


Of Accidents and Antics

by SakuraBreeze



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkwardness, Bathroom Sex, Crack, Drinking, Drunk Sex, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Kuroo Tetsurou, Pining, Slow Build, kuroo and terushima have a fling, side kenma/hinata, so side kuroo/terushima i guess (one night stand)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:41:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 42,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6658111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBreeze/pseuds/SakuraBreeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Are you okay?” Kenma sounded concerned.<br/>“Physically? Yes. Emotionally? No, I don’t think I’ll ever recover,” he groaned. Kenma just frowned at him. Sighing, he continued, “Well, on my way home from the library, there was this guy. He was running after a volleyball, for some reason. God knows why, at two o’clock in the morning. Anyway, I didn’t notice it, and ended up tripping over it. Right into the guy’s crotch. Kenma. I fell. With my face in his crotch.” Kenma snorted. When Kuroo looked up, he had his hand covering his mouth, obviously trying supress laughter. “Come on, Kenma, don’t be like that!” He complained. “I’m seriously, emotionally scarred!”</p><p>Or, the one in which Kuroo falls face-first into Bokuto's crotch, Bokuto sets the kitchen on fire, and Kuroo's friends hold an intervention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm guesstimating here that this fic will be about 13 chapters, but that may or may not change. The rating might also be subject to change, but it's set at M for now for planned smut scenes.
> 
> Anyway, this is my first Bokuroo fic. It's gonna be a doozy, cause this pairing sorely lacks 20k+ completed fics. <3 I hope you guys enjoy it.

Kuroo stared at the page in front of him, eyebrows knitting into a frown. He took another swig of his coffee and grimaced. It’d long since cooled down. Thanks to the library’s industrial-strength air conditioning – which, what the fuck, it was the middle of winter – it was practically an iced coffee at this point. But, caffeine was caffeine, Kuroo supposed. He hunched down further, bringing his face closer to the book, squinting. The words were starting to blur and jumble together. Shit, he was tired. He checked his watch. 2:17am. Thank god his college’s library was twenty four hours. He felt sorry for the poor sod who had to work the night shift. He tried to read the words on the page of his book again. His eyes burned from trying to keep them open. He hadn’t slept much the night before, either. His test tomorrow was big. Like, practically an exam big. And, of course, he’d left most of his studying to the last minute like a dumbass. Kenma had just levelled him with one of those looks that meant _you’re an idiot_ , but hadn’t said anything.

He felt his eyes drift close and his head fall forward. He caught himself just before his head hit the table. He could study a little bit more. Just ten more minutes. He had to.

“Hey, don’t you think it’s time for you to go home?” Came a voice from beside him. He looked up to see the librarian – one of the students that worked there – giving him a kind, but somewhat exasperated, smile. Sugawara Koushi, if he remembered correctly. “You look like you’re about to die of exhaustion. You can study more tomorrow. Here, I’ll even put those books away for you.” Before Kuroo could respond, Sugawara had already gathered all of his books. “Go get some sleep.”

Kuroo nodded dumbly. He had a feeling that Sugawara was someone that didn’t leave room for arguments. So, he stood, collected his things, and left.

It was cold outside. Like, blizzard cold. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But still. That shit should be illegal. He pulled his beanie on over his head and tucked his hands under his armpits as he began to walk. Fuck his life, honestly.

He spared a glance up at the sky. It was overcast, of course, but there was a small spot where the stars peeked through. You couldn’t see a hell of a lot of them in the city, but Kuroo always thought that they were pretty.

He heard voices in the distance, but didn’t pay them any mind. They were probably just poor souls stuck studying late at night, like him. Or people returning from a drunken night out. Kuroo was honestly too sleep deprived to give a shit.

He continued looking at the sky. His breath came out in visible puffs, and a shiver ran down his spine. It was still a pretty far walk to his dorm; it was on the other side of the campus from the library. He really shouldn’t have left going home so late, but he couldn’t check out some of the books he was reading. He supposed he could have done some research online from the comfort of his bed, but his lecturer had specifically recommended the class use those books. Of course, they were all books that were incredibly hard to find outside of the library. Of course.

“Hey!” He heard a voice call. He didn’t recognize. “Could you pick up my ball for me?”

This time, he did pay attention. He looked away from the sky to see a man jogging towards him. He had an odd combination of black and white hair, spiked into two points, and almost golden eyes. Kuroo couldn’t help but think he looked like an owl. Wait, right. He mentioned a ball. He looked down in time to see the ball right in front of him. He should stop, maybe. Else he was going to trip

But, no. Apparently his sleep-deprived self didn’t get the memo. Because he didn’t stop. He stepped right on the ball, and was now falling forward. He was an idiot. And apparently, his life sucked more than he thought it did.

The stranger had come closer than he thought, and, as Kuroo fell, he got a face full of crotch. The stranger fell backwards as well, and now here they were. Both lying on the floor, Kuroo’s face in some random guy’s junk. Not that that hadn’t happened before, but this was another situation entirely.

He must have been lying there, wallowing in his own misfortune, for longer than he thought, because the guy was talking. “Um, hey, do you think you could maybe get your face out of my crotch?”

Kuroo practically leaped away, feeling a blush creep into his cheeks. “Holy fuck I’m so sorry,” he spluttered as he stood. The other guy just laughed as he got up and dusted off his pants. Kuroo picked up the guy’s ball and handed it to him. A volleyball. Huh.

“Thanks, bro. Though next time you’re gonna fall into someone’s crotch, you might wanna warn a guy,” he teased. _Please just end my life_ , he thought. He must have said it out loud, because the guy was laughing even harder now. _Fuck_.  “Anyway, I gotta go. See ya!” The guy grinned at Kuroo before running off, leaving Kuroo to think: _what the fuck was that?_

If the ground could just open up and swallow him whole right now, that’d be great.

He continued to walk home, sparing a quick glance at the retreating back of the stranger.

When he finally reached his dorm, Kenma was still up playing video games on his bunk.

“Kenma, I hate my life,” Kuroo muttered as he collapsed into bed.

“I’m sure you do, Kuro,” Kenma said, not looking away from his screen.

Kuroo just rolled over with a groan and passed out, trying his best not to think about how much of an ass he’d made of himself.

 

* * *

 

When Kuroo opened his test paper, he wanted to die. He’d done the best he could in the little time he’d given himself, but it definitely wasn’t enough to get the grade he wanted. As he read the questions, he realized that he was even more screwed than he’d initially thought. It was a lot more difficult than he’d been expecting. Maybe that was the point. Maybe it was to scare them, to get their asses into gear. Though, it’d be great if they hadn’t made the test count for quite so much.

He gritted his teeth and got to work. All he could hope for now was that he didn’t do _too_ badly. He didn’t think he’d fail, at any rate.

A gruelling ninety minutes later, he was done. The worst ninety minutes of his life, really. He really needed to make more time to study. He didn’t know how Kenma did it. He spent practically all day every day playing games, and yet he somehow managed to get by academically without a hitch. It wasn’t fair.

He let out a sigh as he handed in his test at the front of the class. His lecturer almost looked smug, the asshole. Damn him.

As Kuroo headed for the exit, he noticed Daichi and Oikawa chatting, probably comparing results. They looked almost as wrecked as he felt. Poor souls. He walked up to them, clapping Daichi on the shoulder.

“Heey,” he drawled. “So that was rough.”

Daichi sighed. “You’re telling me.”

“How about we all go get drinks tonight and try and forget this ever happened?” Kuroo suggested. “I’ll even try and get Kenma to come with.”

Oikawa snorted. “Good luck with that one. But I’m in. I could use a break.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Could be fun,” Daichi said with a shrug.

“Great,” Kuroo grinned.

“Anyway,” Oikawa said. “About question nine…”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna know how badly I did right now. I’ll see you guys later. The Nest, at 9?” Kuroo said.

Daichi shrugged. Oikawa nodded and said, “Sure.”

Kuroo gave them a quick wave before turning and leaving the classroom. While he was usually up for comparing results, today wasn’t one of those days. He’d honestly rather stay in denial about just how fucked he was for as long as possible. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and pointedly tried _not_ to think about his life. Honestly, first he lands face-first into a guy’s junk and now _this?_ Nope. Seriously not thinking about it.

It was lunch time, and his last class was only a couple of hours away, so he headed for the cafeteria. As if on cue, his stomach let out a loud rumbling sound. He hadn’t eaten all day; he’d been too nervous before his test. He didn’t often get nervous, but when he was underprepared he tended to panic a little. He hadn’t eaten a lot the day before, either. He’d been too busy trying to cram as much information as possible, so food hadn’t really been his focus, though it probably should have.

When he got to the cafeteria, it was pretty busy. That was pretty normal, however. College students, free Wi-Fi, and food always seemed to go hand in hand. Kuroo picked the shortest line, his stomach now almost cramping. The wait wasn’t too terribly long – there were only a few people ahead of him – but as he stood his hunger hit him like a truck. He really needed to stop ignoring his basic needs when he focused on something. When he got to the front, he pulled out his wallet, ordered, and paid. A few moments later, a woman handed him his lunch, and he went to go find a place to sit.

Empty tables were a rare thing at this time of day. Nearly half the university was crowding into the cafeteria to eat and to do last-minute work or studying for their classes. It was nearly suffocating, so Kuroo was more than a little surprised to see Kenma sitting at one of the tables on the far side, by himself. Kuroo made his way over to the table, dropping into the seat across from Kenma.

“What are you doing here by yourself?” He asked as he began to eat. “Don’t you usually make the trip to one of the quieter cafes to eat?”

Kenma looked surprised by his sudden presence. “Oh… I was here with Hinata,” he said quietly, looking a little uncomfortable.

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “Hmm? Who’s that?”

“He’s a… Classmate?”

“A classmate? Or a _classmate?_ ” Kuroo grinned. Kenma huffed indignantly, but his cheeks reddened a little. Kuroo’s grin only widened. “Ohoho?”

“He, um… He asked me to have coffee with him… Sometime…” Kenma looked everywhere but Kuroo’s face, fidgeting and pulling on the hem of his shirt.

“A date?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good for you!” Kuroo gave him a playful swat on his arm. Kenma looked relieved, but Kuroo wasn’t sure about what. “So when is it?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Be sure to let me know how it goes.”

“I will,” Kenma gave him a small smile. He seemed happy – excited, even. Kuroo wondered just what kind of person this Hinata was. He wanted to meet him. “Say, kuro…”

“Hmm?”

“What had you so worked up last night?” Kuroo stopped mid-bite. Oh, god. Kenma was totally going to laugh at him. “I know you were nervous about your test today, but it seemed like something happened.”

“I, um, had something of an accident.”

“Are you okay?” Kenma sounded concerned.

“Physically? Yes. Emotionally? No, I don’t think I’ll ever recover,” he groaned. Kenma just frowned at him. Sighing, he continued, “Well, on my way home from the library, there was this guy. He was running after a volleyball, for some reason. God knows why, at two o’clock in the morning. Anyway, I didn’t notice it, and ended up tripping over it. Right into the guy’s crotch. Kenma. I fell. With my face in his crotch.” Kenma snorted. When Kuroo looked up, he had his hand covering his mouth, obviously trying supress laughter. “Come on, Kenma, don’t be like that!” He complained. “I’m seriously, emotionally scarred!”

“I’m sorry, Kuro, it’s just… So dumb.”

“Hey!” Kenma just smiled at him. Kuroo sighed and rolled his eyes. “Anyway. Oikawa, Daichi, and I are gonna go for a few drinks tonight. You wanna come with?”

Kenma’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t know…”

“Hey, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Just thought I’d extend the invite.”

Kenma nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

Kuroo smiled. “No pressure.”

“I have to get back to class now,” Kenma said as he got up from his chair. “I’ll see you later, Kuro.”

“See you,” Kuroo said.

Once Kenma was gone, Kuroo finished up his lunch, worked on a few last-minute assignments, then was on his way to his next class.

 

* * *

 

 

The Nest wasn’t a club. It wasn’t really a bar either, however. It was an odd mix of both. There was a dancefloor, and plenty of people crowding onto it, but it also had the cosiness of a bar. The dancefloor was in a dark corner, with only a few UV lights illuminating that part of the establishment, while the main bar was dimly lit with an almost orangey hue, giving it a warm feeling. And while there was a pole on the one side of the dancefloor, and plenty of loud, mind-numbing music, there were also tables and armchairs arranged in an almost intimate manner. It was the perfect setup for both party-goers and casual drinkers alike. The staff were also incredibly well-liked. It was managed by a gargantuan of a man called Asahi, and while he didn’t leave the back room very often, the place always erupted into excitement when he did. The main bartender was a guy called Nishinoya – ‘Noya’, he insisted to people he decided he liked – who was always willing to party and drink with the clients. Somehow he never seemed to be low on energy. It was no surprise, really, that it was the most popular place to go for college students in the area.

What was a surprise, however, was that this was one of the very few nights that Kenma had decided to join Kuroo in his alcohol-driven escapades – probably prompted by his upcoming date with Hinata – and that Kenma was now trying to get Kuroo to tell the others about his embarrassing fall.

“No,” Kuroo said, though he felt his resolve melting away. He was already feeling the warmth of the alcohol spreading through his chest and cheeks. He knew it wouldn’t be difficult for them to get him to retell his tale. Especially since Kenma was here. Kenma knew exactly how to bribe him.

“Oh, come on, Kuroo-chan!” Oikawa prodded. “You _have_ to tell us now that Kenma-chan brought it up!”

“But it’s too embarrassing!”

“ _Please!_ ”

Kuroo looked to Daichi for help, eyes pleading, but Daichi just raised his eyebrows at him expectantly. That was it. He was going to cry. He was too emotionally damaged for this shit.

“If you tell this story, I’ll make you sweet curry and grilled salted mackerel pike whenever you want for the next month,” Kenma said.

Shit. He had him. He sighed. “Alright.”

“Sweet curry? And Mackerel?” Daichi echoed, looking a little disbelieving. “That’s all it took?”

“Hey, says you Mr. all-suga-has-to-do-is-smile-and-I-prostrate-myself,” Kuroo mocked.

“Hey, that’s not true.”

“Is too.”

“Come on, just tell the story!” Oikawa interjected.

Kuroo groaned and threw his hands up in the air. “Fine! But one of you has to buy me a drink after this. So, I was up late last night studying. Sugawara kicked me out of the library a little after two. Then, while I was walking home, I trip on this volleyball this guy was trying to catch. And like, who’s chasing after a volleyball after _two in the morning_? But anyway, so I trip and fall. And land face-first into the guy’s crotch. But I don’t get up right away, no. My sleep-deprived brain almost decides to take a nap then and there, until the guy awkwardly asks me to get the hell up.”

The two of them were stifling laughter the entire time he was speaking – at least they were a _little_ polite about it – but as soon as he finished, they couldn’t contain it any longer. They burst into snorting giggles, holding onto each other and the bar for support.

“Come on, guys, it’s not _that_ funny,” Kuroo huffed, feeling his cheeks heat even more.

“Oh, but it really is,” Daichi wheezed.

Suddenly, Nishinoya appeared, and Kuroo wanted to die of embarrassment. “Hey, hey, what’s this?” Nishinoya asked, his trademark grin plastered on his face. Kuroo looked away and took a swig of his drink.

“Kuroo-chan tripped,” Oikawa said in between fits of laughter. “And fell, face-first into a guy’s junk.”

Nishinoya joined in on the laughter. “Oh my god, that is _hilarious_! Did that actually happen, Kuroo?”

Kuroo nodded sullenly.

“You poor, poor man. Come on, have a shot. This one’s on me.”

“Thank you,” Kuroo said, moving to stand in front of the bar. “At least _someone_ here has some sympathy.” He shot a half-hearted glare at Kenma, who just shrugged.

The shot burned in his throat, but it was exactly what he needed to get his mind off things. After that, they dropped the subject, albeit with quite a bit of reluctance from Oikawa. They spent the rest of the night drinking and laughing together. Kenma went home first. He didn’t usually like going to bars or drinking, so he wore out pretty quickly. No surprises there. The rest of them stayed until early hours of the morning. They spent most of their time talking, but occasionally danced as well. Daichi was the second to leave, saying that Sugawara was finishing his shift at the library soon. Kuroo wanted to leave not long after, but Oikawa roped him into staying for at least another hour.

When he eventually got home, he was pretty drunk and ready for a good night’s sleep. He changed out of his clothes and crawled into bed in nothing but a pair of trousers; he ran pretty hot at night, so he didn’t often need to layer while he was sleeping. He didn’t have any morning classes later on, only one lecture in the afternoon, so he could sleep in as long as he wanted. He pulled the duvet over himself, nestling in and happy to finally get some rest after cramming so hard.

That is, until some asshole set off the fire alarm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo nearly gets frostbite, and he and Bokuto go for coffee.

Kuroo stood, in the freezing cold, wearing nothing but a pair of pants and a beanie. He hugged his arms to his chest, tucking his hands into his armpits, and shivering violently. His breaths came out in puffs, as it had the previous night, but this time he found it far less charming. This time he was _pissed_. It had to be in the minus Celsius degrees tonight; in the panic when the alarm was set off and smoke was billowing through the dorms, all he’d had time to grab was his cellphone and his beanie. Damn him for being a responsible adult and putting his jacket away. If he died of hypothermia, he was going to fucking _haunt_ whoever set off the goddamn alarm. He was tired, he was cold, and the joviality the alcohol had given him had disappeared the second he stepped into the freezing winter air.

“You really shouldn’t have left your jacket inside, Kuro,” Kenma remarked. The small boy always slept in layers upon layers of clothing, so he hadn’t had anything to worry about.

Kuroo shot him a glare. “Well maybe _someone_ shouldn’t have set fire to the kitchen at three o’clock in the goddamn morning in the middle of winter.”

There was a sudden, burst of laughter from somewhere to the right of him. He turned to glare at Tanaka, who seemed to be taking great amounts of pleasure in his pain, and who was dressed plenty warmly. “Oh my god, dude! That is too funny! I can’t believe- I can’t believe you don’t have a shirt on!”

“Well what the fuck did you expect? For me to co-ordinate my outfit while I was running from a _fire_?” Kuroo snapped.

Tanaka paused, looking taken aback, but then carried on laughing anyway. Kuroo just glared at him, and then looked away.

People were milling about outside the dormitory a safe distance away. Although the fire hadn’t been big, and he was pretty sure it was out by now, they were still being kept outside. Something about the fire department for checking for electrical faults, or anything else that might have caused it – other than some guy’s stupidity.

Everyone crowded into groups, chatting and trying to stay warm. They all looked just about as tired as he felt, though none of them seemed to be quite as annoyed. Though very few of them were as naked as he was. They were all probably just focusing on trying to stay awake out in the cold.

Kuroo groaned. “I’m seriously going to kill someone. Preferably whichever _fuckwad_ did this. Seriously, who is stupid enough to burn food so badly that it catches fire, in the middle of the night? If you’re too tired or drunk, then don’t cook!” He grumbled. Despite the looks Kenma was giving him, he didn’t even try to be quiet about how pissed he was. “Honestly, what kind of idiot-”

“Uh, that would be me,” someone said from behind him, giving an embarrassed laugh. Kuroo whirled around, ready to give this guy a piece of his mind, ready to _physically fight_ him- Oh.

“Oh, god. It’s you,” Kuroo blurted out. It was the guy from last night. The guy with whose crotch Kuroo had gotten embarrassingly intimate. He looked shocked at Kuroo’s comment for a moment, but then burst into a laughter that shook his whole body. As angry as Kuroo was, it was very hard not to smile. The guy’s laughter was infectious. But Kuroo managed to restrain himself.

“Wow, I didn’t expect _that_ sort of reaction,” the guy said when he’d stopped laughing enough to speak.

“Well- Wait a minute. What do you mean ‘that would be me’? Are you the one that set fire to the kitchen?” Kuroo demanded.

The guy grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Yep. Had something of an accident while making a midnight snack.”

“A midnight snack,” Kuroo repeated in a deadpan. “It’s three in the morning.”

The guy shrugged. “When hunger strikes, it strikes. Hey, can I ask you something?”

Kuroo sighed. “What?”

“Why are you shirtless?”

“Because you set fire to the kitchen! I didn’t exactly have time to put together an outfit!”

Crotch-guy’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh, shit! Sorry, dude! Here, take my jacket,” he said, shrugging off his coat and handing it to Kuroo. Kuroo accepted it gratefully, beyond happy to have something covering his torso. He hugged the jacket around himself, finally warming up a little. “My name’s Bokuto, by the way. Bokuto Kotarou.”

Kuroo nodded at him. “Kuroo Tetsurou.”

“So I guess this makes us even for the crotch thing, huh?” Bokuto grinned.

Kuroo flushed and snorted. “You wish we were even. I nearly got hypothermia and died because of you.”

“Oh, man, you’re right. I’m really sorry about that. I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise!”

“Good,” Kuroo couldn’t help but smile. This guy’s energy was damn contagious. “I’m keeping the jacket for now.”

“Of course! Wouldn’t want you to die on me.”

“You care?”

“It’d probably go on my record.”

Kuroo couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped his lips. “Real nice, Bokuto. You’re a real charmer.”

“Hey! I’m the best!”

He rolled his eyes and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Sure, buddy. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Bokuto laughed. “So, you stay in these dorms?”

“Yep.”

“Me too! How come we’ve never met each other?”

Kuroo shrugged. “No idea. Bad luck? Or maybe good luck. I can’t tell,” he teased, giving Bokuto one of his trademark smirks.

“Very funny,” he pouted. “You’re so mean, Kuroo.”

“What can I say? I’m grumpy when I’m deprived of my beauty sleep.”

“You really are, Kuro,” Kenma piped up.

“Hey!”

Bokuto threw his head back in laughter, and Kuroo couldn’t help but chuckle as well. Even Kenma seemed more cheerful in Bokuto’s presence. What was it about him that made everyone feel so much lighter? Kuroo couldn’t help but wonder about him. Bokuto met his gaze, and Kuroo realized that he must have been staring. He quickly looked away and cleared his throat.

“Anyway. Just how badly did you screw up, Bokuto?”

“That’s harsh, dude! It wasn’t _that_ bad! I just burned the top of the stove. And the wall. And, it might have spread to some of the cabinets.”

Kuroo laughed. “That’s priceless. What did you even _do_?”

“I was just trying to make an omelette!”

“At three in the morning. Right. Remind me not to let you make omelettes again. Hell, I’ll even show you how to make one without giving your dorm-mates frost bite.”

Bokuto was about to retort, when a black haired boy cut in. “Excuse me, but some members of staff want to talk to Bokuto.”

Bokuto’s face fell. “Shit. I don’t wanna do this, Akaashi.”

“Well, you have to,” Akaashi said, and then led Bokuto away.

“Kuroo! I’ll buy you a drink sometime to make up for nearly killing you!” Bokuto called. Akaashi rolled his eyes, and Kuroo just smiled and did the same.

He and Kenma stood in silence for a while longer. Kuroo felt much more comfortable than he had before. The jacket was surprisingly warm, and it smelled nice. Kenma gave him a look, but didn’t say anything.

It was another half an hour before the dorm head finally said that everything was resolved and that they could go back inside. Kuroo felt unspeakably relieved. Finally. _Bed_. He shuffled inside with Kenma, behind a steady stream of people, and headed back up to their room.

When they were back inside, he shrugged the jacket off and hung it over the back of his desk chair, and crawled back into bed. As he drifted off, he couldn’t help but feel torn between wanting to keep the jacket forever and wanting to hear Bokuto’s infectious laugh again.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo lay spread-eagled in his bed. It was Saturday, and he really didn’t want to get up. He hadn’t ended up going to his lecture yesterday, but it was whatever. He’d slept straight until about four o’clock. Apparently, he’d been so dead that even Kenma hadn’t been able to wake him up. He felt a lot better now, but he still didn’t want to get up. His bed was just so comfy and warm.

He turned over and curled into his blankets, watching as Kenma picked out an outfit for his date. Though his expression was mostly the same as always, Kuroo noticed his lips were turned up into a small smile and there was just a hint of redness to his cheeks. It made Kuroo happy to know that Kenma was happy. He really wanted to meet this Hinata guy. He must be something special to have Kenma acting, relative to his usual behaviour, like a blushing school girl. Usually, Kenma was a heartbreaker. If someone asked him out, it was a flat-out “no”, no explanations, and no excuses. But now, he was actually trying to impress someone. Kuroo smiled.

“What’s that look for?” Kenma muttered, trying to decide between two shirts.

He shrugged from under the covers. “Nothing. Just excited for you.”

Kenma rolled his eyes. “You’re so sappy.”

“That’s me. Where are you guys going, anyway?”

“Um… Sweetbrew.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened a little. “That really nice coffee down on the end of Main Street?” He asked. Kenma nodded. “That’s awesome, bro. I hope you enjoy it.”

Kenma nodded again. “Thanks,” he said, and started to change. Kuroo turned over to face the wall. He and Kenma had known each other since they were kids, and had seen each other change many times, but it was common courtesy to give a bro some privacy once in a while.

Kuroo turned back over when Kenma spoke. “You still have his jacket?” He asked, nodding at the chair where it still hung.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen him since then. We never seem to run into each other. Probably cause either I leave early to run, or I sleep until after midday. There is no in between.”

Kenma shrugged. “Probably. But you should give it back.”

“Hey, after I nearly froze to death because of that guy I can take my time. It’s a nice jacket. I _still_ can’t believe he nearly burnt down the dorm.”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. He seems like a nice guy.”

Kuroo snorted. “Whatever you say, Kenma.”

“Why must you be so obtuse?”

He barked out a laugh. “Wow, you’re really a lot more outspoken than back in high school! Look at that backtalk!”

Kenma just huffed, but Kuroo could see the amusement in his eyes. “Either way, you should still give it back. Anyway, is this, um… Okay?”

Kenma was dressed in a pair of black jeans, white doc martins, a long white button-up cardigan, and a pale red shirt that peeked out from underneath. He fiddled with the hem of his cardigan and stared at a spot on the ground. He looked super nervous, the poor kid. But Kuroo was glad that he was going through with it and not chickening out. He was proud of him.

“Yeah, man. You look great! You can wear that checked scarf of yours and that black beanie while you’re outside,” Kuroo said, grinning. “You’ve got this, bro! You’re gonna own this date.”

“Thanks. I should, um, probably get going.”

“You want me to drive you? I can throw on a shirt quickly and take you there,” Kuroo offered.

Kenma shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m meeting Hinata at the train station.”

“Great. Well, good luck and have fun. Text me how it goes. I’ll probably be out for a run later.”

“Bye.”

“See ya!” Kuroo reached a hand out from under his duvet to wave at Kenma as he left their room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Kuroo lay in bed for a few more minutes, not particularly wanting to get up but knowing that he _should_. It was late morning, almost afternoon, and he hadn’t even showered or had breakfast yet. He had assignments to do, and he still wanted to go for a run in the afternoon. He was on the track team, so he tried to get in a run on days he didn’t have practice. He wasn’t always successful, but he tried.

Eventually, he groaned and forced himself up. Whether he liked it or not, he had to face the day.

He grabbed his things and headed for his floor’s bathroom. He took a quick, steaming-hot shower, washing away the musty smell of lying in bed for too long, before dressing and heading back to his room to dump his stuff. His bed and the floor space around it were kind of a mess, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care right then.

His stomach gave a small growl as he headed out of his room. He made his way down to the ground floor, where the communal kitchen was. He lived on the third floor, so it was a short trip down, but making it up all those flights of stairs while drunk was a difficult feat, to say the least. He’d tripped and fallen on his face many times, and occasionally had just passed out right there. Kenma had always found him sometime in the early morning, however, and had woken him up and gotten his still-slightly-drunk ass back to bed.

When he reached the kitchen, he had to laugh. Sure enough, the wall and the counters were blackened and there was a distinct, lingering smell of smoke.

“What a dumbass,” he chuckled to himself as he opened the fridge and grabbed an apple.

“Who’s a dumbass?” Came a voice from behind him. Kuroo jumped a little and turned around to face Bokuto.

“Didn’t anyone teach you not to sneak up on people?” He snarked, but there was no venom behind it.

“Didn’t anyone teach you it’s rude to talk smack behind someone’s back?” Bokuto grinned, folding his arms over his broad chest.

Kuroo shrugged, taking a bite from his apple. “Hey, man, I’m only speaking the truth. I don’t see anyone else around here who’s burnt the kitchen like this.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Tanaka set the kitchen on fire last year,” Bokuto said.

“Shit, dude, you’re right. I totally forgot about that,” Kuroo admitted.

“Seeee? I didn’t fuck up _that_ badly!”

“You did still almost give me hypothermia.”

“Good point. Let’s go get drinks, my treat,” Bokuto offered.

Kuroo levelled him with a look. “It’s not even 12 yet, my guy.”

Bokuto huffed. “Coffee, obviously!”

“Dude, coffee and ‘drinks’ are _not_ the same thing.”

Bokuto flailed, obviously struggling to come up with a retort. “Ugh, Whatever! I should have just let you get hypothermia. Now, do you want coffee or not?”

Kuroo snickered. “Yeah, man, sure. I could go for some coffee.”

The other boy’s face spread into a wide grin. “Sweet, bro! Where do you wanna go? Sweetbrew? I heard it’s really good.”

He shook his head. “Nah, bro. My roommate’s on a date there. It’d be weird.”

“Ah, shit, yeah. How ‘bout we just go somewhere close to campus then?”

“Sounds good. Lead the way, my man.”

“Onward!” Bokuto cried, and then burst into laughter. Kuroo couldn’t help but join him. _Ah, there’s that infectious laugh again_.

They went to a café just down the road from the campus. It wasn’t fantastic – not nearly as good as Sweetbrew, at any rate – but it was nice. It was small and cosy, but not densely packed. It had a rustic décor of browns and oranges, with almost egregiously hipster wall and ceiling-hangings. Kuroo could appreciate the aesthetic, but wow. This was a lot.  They stood in the queue, and slowly made their way to the front, where Iwaizumi and Oikawa were currently working.

As soon as they reached the till, Oikawa levelled them with a look. “So, what. You two dating now or something?”

“Oh, no,” they both said at the same time. Kuroo glanced at Bokuto. Although he’d said it as well, he couldn’t help but feel a stab of disappointment. But, Bokuto was probably straight.

“This guy’s just treating me to some coffee for nearly giving me frost bite last night after he set fire to the dormitory’s kitchen,” Kuroo explained.

Bokuto let out a melodramatic sigh. “It wasn’t _that_ bad. I mean, I figured we were even after the whole crotch thing, but apparently not.” He pouted.

“Wait,” Oikawa interjected. “Wait wait. _You’re_ the crotch guy?”

Bokuto looked a little taken aback, but recovered himself quickly, and grinned. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Oh my god. And now you’re, what, friends?” Oikawa laughed. “This is too funny! Tell me, did you like having our Kuroo’s face in your junk?”

Kuroo blushed. “Oikawa!”

“Oh, I um…” Bokuto started. Kuroo glanced at him and was surprised to see redness creeping into the other boy’s cheeks.

“Oi, Oikawa!” Came Iwaizumi’s voice, interrupting him. “Hurry it up! You’re holding up the other customers!”

Oikawa sighed. “Right, right. So, what do you guys want?”

“I’ll have a hot chocolate!” Bokuto answered immediately.

Kuroo looked at him.  “…Seriously?”

“What? It’s tasty!” Bokuto insisted.

“Whatever you say, bro,” he teased. “Um, I’ll have a latte I guess.”

Oikawa flashed them one of his work-smiles. “Coming right up.”

Once they’d paid and collected their orders, they chose a window seat close to the café’s fireplace. Kuroo loved sitting by the window – it meant he could people watch – and the fire provided a perfect amount of warmth. It was damn cold outside again, and Kuroo was glad for it. It was probably going to snow soon, if he was honest with himself.

Kuroo sat across from Bokuto and shot him a sly grin, taking a sip of his coffee. “So. Hot chocolate?”

“Whatever, man,” Bokuto laughed. “Excuse me for not wanting to kill my taste buds with that bitter shit. Maybe I just have a sweet tooth.”

“Excuse you, heathen. Coffee is delicious!” Kuroo said, gasping in mock offense.

“You’re just saying that cause you killed your taste buds with that bitter shit,” he joked. “I also can’t handle the caffeine. I have way too much energy already, it just keeps me up all night.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Is that why you were chasing a volleyball at two in the morning the other night?”

Bokuto laughed. “Yes, actually. I had some coffee that day and I, uh, got a little carried away with extra practice.”

“What are you, some kind of demon?” He deadpanned, earning a laugh from Bokuto. Kuroo grinned in return. “You play?”

“Yeah, man! Volleyball is my life! What about you?”

Kuroo shrugged nonchalantly. “I used to play a bit, back in high school, but not anymore. I’m on the track team now. I like running, and it still gives me time to focus on my studies. Which I should probably be doing more of, anyway.”

“That’s cool!” Bokuto said. Kuroo couldn’t stop his smile from widening. “I should probably be focusing on my studies as well. My grades are terrible.”

Kuroo laughed. “At least you’re honest!”

Bokuto rubbed at the back of his head. “That’s me!”

“Hey, man, I could probably help you study, if you’d like. It’d help me, too,” he offered, and took another sip. The coffee was pretty good, actually. Though he’d heard Iwaizumi was decent at making it, he’d half expected it to be over exaggeration because of his association with Oikawa. Oikawa’s fangirls loved to try and portray everything about the guy as _perfect_.

“Seriously?” Bokuto perked up. Kuroo hadn’t thought it was possible for him to be any more chipper and energetic than he already was, but, well, there we go.

“Yeah, sure. I mean it’s whatever.”

“Oh my god, that’d be great! Akaashi sometimes helps me study, but he’s always so busy with his own stuff,” he said, bottom lip pulled into a pout. It was such a ridiculous expression, Kuroo had to snicker. Seriously, just who was this guy? His moods seemed to swing from bubbly to petulant in two seconds flat, though his abundance of energy never seemed to disappear.

“Cool, well, we’re in the same dorm so you can come over whenever,” Kuroo said.

“What room are you in?” Bokuto asked.

“Third floor, go right, second door on the right.”

“Cool! I’ll come by sometime!”

Kuroo smiled, stirring his latte idly. “Sounds good,” he said. Bokuto’s smile was so bright that it was almost blinding, but Kuroo couldn’t seem to look away.

Bokuto then went on to tell Kuroo some dumb tale about that time he’d nearly gotten kicked off the high school volleyball team because of one of his stupid antics, and how Akaashi (who he’d apparently gone to high school with) had been _so mad_ at him that he hadn’t spoken a word or tossed a single ball to him for _weeks_. Bokuto burst into raucous laughter many times throughout the story, and Kuroo couldn’t stop himself from joining in even if he wanted to.

And, he found that he really, really didn’t want to stop himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's chapter two! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Honestly not sure how frequently I'll be posting these chapters. I'm on a roll at the moment, though! Come check me out on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo. Always willing to ramble about bokuroo.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo finds Bokuto on his balcony before his morning run.

 

Kuroo sat at his desk, his pen moving across the page before him as he scribbled down notes. His assignment was due in three days, and he’d given himself plenty of time to do it for once. He was on schedule. In fact, he was more than on schedule; he was nearly done. Which meant that he could start on his next assignment tomorrow or the day after, and which meant he (hopefully) wouldn’t have to stress about work for the next week, at least. He felt good.

And that totally had nothing to do with the way his fingers still smelled a little like coffee, or how the scent of the coffee shop’s wood fire still lingered in his hair, or how he was still grinning at one of Bokuto’s stupid jokes.

Nope, nothing at all.

Besides, Bokuto was about as straight as they come, right? He was like, the definition of a Bro. Well, maybe Kuroo didn’t exactly scream ‘bisexual’ either, but that was beside the point. It was a different matter entirely. Kuroo didn’t want to get his hopes up, after all. It’d happened before, back in high school, and he didn’t particularly want to repeat the experience.

He reached the end of the page, and he decided it was time for a break. He set his pen down, shut his book, and stretched with his whole body just as he heard the door creak open. He turned to see Kenma walking into their room, looking highly pleased with himself. He shrugged off his cardigan and hung it over his own desk chair as he made his way to the couch. Kuroo pushed away from his desk and spun around to face Kenma.

Kuroo plastered his signature grin across his face. “Soooo, I noticed you didn’t text me.”

Kenma sat on the end of the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest, and faced Kuroo. “Oh, um. Sorry about that,” he said.”

“Nah, don’t worry about that.” Kuroo shook his head. “Just tell me how it went!”

Kenma hummed, resting his chin on his knees. “I had fun.”

“Aaaaand?” He prodded, his grin widening.

Kenma sighed, but a small smile tugged at his lips anyway. “Hinata is nice. He’s very cheerful and bright. Almost like the sun.”

“That’s great. Are you two gonna go out again?”

Kenma nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to movies next week.”

“Awesome, dude! So when do I get to meet this amazing Hinata?”

“I don’t know. Soon?” Kenma shrugged.

Kuroo chuckled. “I should hope so.”

“Why do you want to meet him so badly?” The smaller boy asked.

“Because of that dumb smile on your face when you talk about him!”

One of Kenma’s hands came up to cover his mouth. “My smile isn’t dumb.”

“It’s so dumb,” Kuroo snickered. “And gooey. You _like_ him.”

Kenma looked away, cheeks becoming decidedly pink. “Y-yeah…”

“So, therefore, I wanna meet him. It’s what best buds do, you know,” he insisted, leaning back in his chair.

“Okay… Maybe I’ll bring him over after our next date…”

“Great!”

“So have you just been here all day?” Kenma asked, pointedly changing the subject. Kuroo huffed out a laugh, but let the topic drop.

“Nah,” he shook his head. “Bokuto bought me coffee earlier.” Kuroo got up from his chair and moved to sit next to Kenma on the couch, grabbing the blanket off his bed as he went. It was cold, and he was tired of sitting on that uncomfortable chair. They hadn’t exactly spent a ton of money on the extra furniture for their dorm. They were college students, after all. Kenma watched his movements with raised eyebrows.

“That guy that set the kitchen on fire?” He asked.

“Yep,” Kuroo said, popping the ‘p’.

“How was it?”

Kuroo shrugged. “It was pretty cool. The coffee shop we went to had a fireplace, which is always a plus. It was that place that Oikawa and Iwaizumi work. He’s a pretty funny guy, though he seems to get into a lot of shit through sheer stupidity. But he’s funny.”

“Was it a date?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo startled a little, and he felt his cheeks heat up. “No,” he said slowly. “It wasn’t. I’m pretty sure that guy is as straight as an arrow, anyway.”

Kenma frowned, looking unconvinced. “What makes you say that?”

“He just doesn’t really scream ‘ _queer_ ’ you know? And my gaydar isn’t doing the… thing,” he said, gesturing vaguely.

Kenma sighed. “Yes, Kuro, but we both know your gaydar is terrible.”

Kuroo pouted. “Is not.”

Kenma gave him a look that said ‘ _yes it is, you idiot_ ’ and rolled his eyes. “Anyway, did you want it to be a date?”

Kuroo shrugged again. “I dunno. It’s not really a big deal, you know? He’s not unattractive, but he’s probably straight.”

“That’s basically you saying that you find him incredibly attractive,” Kenma sighed, turning and picking up his gaming console from the coffee table. He turned it on and began to play. Kuroo knew that that didn’t mean they were done with their conversation. Kenma was great at multitasking, and he didn’t let a subject drop so easily, unless he _really_ wanted to.

“Shut up, is not,” Kuroo huffed. “Okay, he’s pretty cute, but that doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to fall head over heels for him. I can get another date anytime I want.”

“Sure thing, Kuro,” Kenma murmured, fingers tapping away at his game. “Just be careful, alright? You remember what happened back in high school.”

“Yeah, I remember. I’ll be careful,” he sighed, looking past Kenma at his desk chair, where Bokuto’s jacket still hung. “I should really give that back.”

“The jacket?”

“Yeah,” he said, and nestled further into his blanket and the couch. Despite their couch being super cheap, it was surprisingly comfortable. He’d passed out on it many a time at night.

“You should. Why don’t you go do that now? He lives in the same dorm as us, it’s not that far to walk.”

Kuroo yawned. “Nah. I’ll give it back to him next time I see him. I’m sure we’ll run into one another sooner or later. He said he wanted to come round to study, anyway.”

Kenma shrugged. “It’s your decision.”

“Yeah, and my decision right now is to take a nap,” he said, flopping over so his head lay on the arm rest, and his feet just barely brushed Kenma’s. Kenma just shrugged again and continued to play his game as Kuroo drifted off into sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

 

As it turned out, Kuroo did not run into Bokuto for more than a week. And honestly, Kuroo was kind of baffled. How was it that they shared the same dorm, and hadn’t met until Kuroo had made the biggest ass of himself that he’d ever made in his entire life? And how was it, that since then, they’d only run into each other once? It made literally no sense.

Was it, like, the universe working to keep them apart? Kuroo wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, if he was honest with himself. Bokuto was a great guy, but Kuroo had the feeling that there would be no end to trouble with him around.

Though, he did wonder why he hadn’t come by to study yet. He’d said that he needed help. Maybe he was just too busy? Or maybe he’d changed his mind, and decided that he didn’t like Kuroo.

Ugh, whatever. It didn’t matter, anyway. He’d see him around sooner or later, and then he could give that dumb, comfy jacket back. Or not. It was no loss to him. He liked that jacket.

Kuroo’s alarm went off. He blinked his eyes open, groaning. He’d been awake for a while now, but he still _really_ didn’t want to get out of bed. He loved running, but it was cold and it was early. He really just wanted to stay in bed and sleep a few more hours. But, it was that kind of attitude that would let him slip into unfitness.

So, he turned off his alarm and forced himself out of the covers.

He winced when the cold air hit his bare chest, but tried not to pay it much mind. He’d be dressed soon enough.

He made his way over to his cupboard, careful not to wake Kenma. The younger could be pretty grumpy in the mornings if he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. He pulled out a pair of his running pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a light jacket. He would be cold when he first stepped outside, but once he got running he would heat up pretty quickly. He got changed quietly, then made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth.

When he was done, he splashed some cold water on his face to try and wake himself up some more. Grogginess still hung over his mind like a cloud. He wished that he could have some coffee, but it was better to have it once he’d finished his run and had had shower.

He went back into the room and grabbed his shoes from the cupboard. As he was slipping on his socks, he heard a soft knocking coming from their balcony’s sliding door. Kuroo jumped, stiffening. What could it be? A cat? A fallen branch? A burglar?

But… Why would a burglar knock?

Unless he was a polite burglar.

The knocking came again, louder this time.

Kuroo wasn’t sure what to do. What if he answered it and it _was_ a burglar or something? Then he’d screw over both himself and Kenma. But, what kind of burglar would rob college students? They were broke as shit.

There was a third knock, followed by a, “come on, dude, it’s coooold!”

The voice was familiar. So Kuroo stood and made his way over to the balcony door, pulling back the curtains and coming face to face with- Bokuto. Of course. Of course it was Bokuto. Kuroo burst out laughing. He heard a groan from Kenma, and tried to quieten himself down a bit.

“Not cool, dude!” Bokuto complained.

“What are you even doing here?” Kuroo asked through the door.

“Let me in and I’ll tell you!” He said.

Kuroo snickered. “Fine, fine, I’ll be nice,” he said, unlocking and sliding open the door. Bokuto dashed in, followed by a gust of cold air. Kenma gave another groan as Kuroo closed the door.

“ _Thank_ you,” Bokuto said.

Kuroo just snickered again as he made his way back to the couch to finish putting on his shoes. “So, care to tell me just _how_ you managed to get onto our balcony?”

Bokuto shrugged. “I climbed. Duh.”

“Dude, we’re _three floors up_! That should be impossible!”

“I dunno, man, I just did. I guess when your adrenaline’s pumping you can do anything,” he said, grinning.

Kuroo rolled his eyes as he slipped his feet into his shoes and began to do up the laces. “Right. So how about why the hell you climbed up to my balcony on the third floor?”

“Well,” Bokuto began, looking a little embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck a she spoke. “I was on a run, when this dog starts chasing me, the asshole. At first I’m like ‘yeah, whatever, let it do what it wants’, but then it actually tries to bite me! So I run like hell, and end up coming back past the dorms, and see where your dorm is meant to be. And this dog is gaining on me, so I panic, and just, start climbing.” He gestured wildly as he spoke. When he was done, he paused for a moment. His features shifted into a pout as he added, “I never did get to finish my run.”

Kuroo burst into laughter again, unable to help himself. “Are you serious?” He said. “A _dog_? That’s too funny, bro. And why did you come _here_ , of all places?”

“Akaashi would kill me if I knocked on our balcony window this early,” he shrugged, grinning.

Kenma let out another groan, much louder this time.

“Well, I think Kenma is going to kill _us_ soon if we don’t let him sleep,” Kuroo chuckled. “Come on, let’s go. I was just on my way out anyway. I’ll run with you.”

Bokuto’s grin widened, somehow. It should be impossible for that grin of his to get any bigger, really. Even his normal smile looked like it was about to split his face in half. “Sweet, bro! This’ll be awesome!”

Kuroo finished lacing up his sneakers and stood, grabbing his jacket. He shrugged it on as he made his way to the door, and paused with his hand on the knob. “Oh, yeah. I still have your jacket if you want it. It’s on my desk chair.”

Bokuto shook his head. “It’s fine for now. Give it back to me next time.”

Kuroo shrugged and opened the door, stepping outside. “Alright. When are you coming to study, by the way?” He asked as he locked the door behind them.

“Oh, yeah… I’ve been avoiding that,” Bokuto admitted, scratching at the back of his neck as he began to walk.

“And that’s because…?” He prompted.

“I really hate studying.”

Kuroo swatted him on the arm. “How are you going to get better grades if you avoid studying?”

“But I’d rather be playing volleyball,” he whined.

“Well, too bad. You’re coming over tomorrow and I’m going to help you study.”

Bokuto sighed, more than a little melodramatically. “Ugh. Fine. You’re being so much like Akaashi.”

Kuroo snorted. “Maybe Akaashi is just sensible.”

“He is and I hate it. He always spoils my fun. Like that time I had a contest with this one dude, whoever could fit the most bagels in their mouth won. Akaashi made me stop. I mean, I nearly choked, but that’s not the point,” he pouted.

“Dude,” Kuroo said, stopping just inside of the door of the building. “We should do that.”

“Do what?”

“That bagel contest thing. I bet I could fit more in my mouth than you can,” he challenged.

“You’re on! As soon as we get back from our run, we’re totally doing that!”

“Hell yeah! Now, let’s go.”

Bokuto grinned and nodded.

Kuroo pushed the door open, and they both stepped outside. It was cold. As balls. But he knew he would be fine as soon as he started running. Bokuto nodded to him, indicating that he would follow where Kuroo went. Kuroo rolled his shoulders, and started to run.

He was right about getting warm as soon as he started. He’d quickly taken his jacket off and wrapped it around his waist. He knew that it didn’t particularly look cool, but he didn’t really care right then and there. There was no one except Bokuto around to see him, and Bokuto had already seen him at his most uncool.

What he hadn’t predicted, however, was how much of a contest running with Bokuto would have turned out to be. Kuroo was actually a pretty competitive guy, as much as he tried not to be. Bokuto, as it turned out, was even more competitive than him – and somehow brought out Kuroo’s competitiveness to its extreme. Their run had started out leisurely and calm, but gradually they’d gotten faster and faster, each one wanting to get just that little bit ahead of the other. By the time they reached the half way mark, they were sprinting at full speed despite how much they were huffing and wheezing.

They had to stop, briefly, for a break about three quarters into their run – neither of them could keep up with the fast pace they had both set. They didn’t talk; they were too out of breath to even do that. They spent a good fifteen minutes just trying to catch their breaths, before they started running again.

When they _finally_ reached the dorm again, Kuroo thought he was going to die. He hadn’t thought it was possible, but somehow they’d started sprinting again, and Kuroo had completely lost himself in the competition. They both stopped, touching the door of their dorm building at the same time. They both glared at each other for a moment, before they burst out laughing – or, well, wheezing. It was extremely difficult to laugh when you could barely even breathe.

“Tie, dude,” Kuroo said when they finally stopped. “Though it was a formidable race, there was sadly no clear winner.”

“Shit, I totally thought I had that one,” Bokuto complained. “I didn’t think you’d be able to keep up with me.”

“Hey, just because you’re some fancy volleyball star doesn’t mean I can’t keep up with you.”

Kuroo swore to god that Bokuto’s eyes straight-up started _twinkling_. “You think I’m a star?”

He just laughed. “Whatever, dude, don’t let it go to that big head of yours,” he said, knocking on Bokuto’s forehead.

“Rude!” Bokuto huffed, then paused. A sly grin spread across his face. “You know what we should do?”

Whatever Bokuto’s idea was, it probably wasn’t going to be a good one. Kuroo smiled anyway. “What?”

“We should settle our race,” Bokuto declared.

“Dude, if I run another second I will have a heart attack and die. And so will you. What would Akaashi say then, hm?” Kuroo said, raising an eyebrow.

“No, no, no, dude. We should settle it… With _bagels_.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened, realization dawning on him. “Dude. Yes.”

They grinned at each other and then ran into the dorm, making a beeline for the kitchen – where, incidentally, sat a bag full of bagels that Kuroo had bought the day before (Don’t ask him why he bought so many bagels. He just wanted them).

In the end, they both choked – and almost died – and Kuroo learned why Bokuto was so scared of Akaashi’s wrath. It was the first time he’d met Bokuto’s roommate, and Akaashi lectured them for almost half an hour on being _adults_ and _oh, god, Bokuto’s got someone else to be stupid with_ and _please stop trying to get yourselves killed_. Bokuto and Kuroo listened as diligently as they could, but couldn’t help but snicker most of the way through. When Akaashi was done, they high-fived each other and Kuroo gave Bokuto a clap on the back, because Bokuto won that round – but he promised Bokuto that he’d get him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The running scene actually ended up a bit longer than I thought it would be. I hope you guys enjoyed it!!  
> Come find me on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo so we can talk about these trashy boiis and be in bokuroo hell together!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad movies and volleyball ensue. Kuroo realizes just how fucked he really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, I managed to do almost 4k for this chapter! This fic is turning out to be a lot more than i originally anticipated lmao. I hope you guys enjoy the sheer stupidity of these lovely dorks.

The first time Kuroo met Hinata, he didn’t really _meet_ him per se.

It had been a long day of classes, and Kuroo was tired and ready to crawl into bed and sleep for about forty eight hours. He was supposed to go for a run that afternoon, but considering the number of times he and Bokuto had gotten into stupidly fast-paced races since that first time, he figured he could give himself a break. So, he trudged up to his dorm room, expecting to just crash on the couch and watch some TV.

That isn’t what he got.

When he walked into his room, Hinata was there. He and Kenma were sprawled across the couch, half undressed and very, very intent on kissing one another. Kuroo wavered between being happy for Kenma and wanting to wash his eyes out with soap. He really never, ever wanted to see Kenma like that. In some ways, he still thought of his friend as that kid he first met in his childhood home.

Kuroo was just debating what to do when Kenma spoke. “Oh, Kuro. You’re home early,” he said from underneath Hinata. Hinata stared at Kuroo, and both looked decidedly embarrassed.

“Oh, yeah… I decided to skip running this afternoon,” he said, feeling uncomfortable. Yeah, he really didn’t want to deal with this awkwardness right now. So, he plastered on a grin. “But hey, don’t let me interrupt.” He started backing out the doorway. “Have fun, kids. Stay safe. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

With that, he shut the door and let out a sigh.

Of all the ways he’d imagined his first meeting with Kenma’s new boyfriend to go, that was most definitely not it. He knew how awkward and embarrassing it was to get walked in on, and he’d rather just… _not_. His assignments could wait, he supposed. No big deal. It wasn’t like he was going to procrastinate a ton anyway. Now he just had a semi-valid excuse to, and wouldn’t feel as bad about it later.

He shrugged to himself and turned away from the door.

What could he do now? He could go see a movie, but he didn’t really feel like going anywhere too far. Plus, he had the distinct feeling that Hinata and Kenma would be at it for… A while. _Ah, to be young and in love_ , Kuroo thought. He could go gorge himself on food downstairs or a nearby restaurant, but that still didn’t solve his latter problem. He’d probably have to stay at a friend’s place.

Bokuto.

He _really_ hoped that Bokuto wasn’t doing anything right now. Without sparing another thought, he headed for the other’s room. It was down one floor, and down the far end of the hall. It was a short walk, which was convenient for spontaneous hangouts, runs, and study sessions – as much as Bokuto liked to try and avoid the latter.

When he reached the room, he gave a short knock on the door and prayed. After a moment, the door opened, revealing a normal and not mid-sex Bokuto – thank god.

“Hey, hey, Kuroo!” Bokuto greeted, grinning. “What brings you here?”

“Hey, man,” Kuroo returned his smile. “Kenma and his new boyfriend are… Kinda getting it on on our couch, and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be at it pretty much all night. Any chance you’d let me crash here?”

Bokuto let out a laugh. “I know how that goes. But of course! Anything for the awesomest bro ever!” He ushered Kuroo in, clapping him on the back. Did his hand linger, just a little bit? Or was that Kuroo’s imagination? “My room’s smaller than yours, so sadly no couch. You’ll have to bunk with me, if you don’t mind. I’d offer you Akaashi’s bed, but he’d probably kill me.”

Kuroo shrugged. “Yeah, sure, man. Anything’s better than having to try and pretend that my roommate isn’t having sex, like, right there.”

“Sweet, well, come in,” Bokuto said, stepping to one side to let Kuroo into the room. Kuroo stepped inside, and, sure enough, it was much smaller than his and Kenma’s room. There were two beds, two desks, and a TV that sat against the wall at the foot of the beds. “You keen for some bad movies? Akaashi hates them, but I maintain that they’re works of art.”

“Like what?” Kuroo asked, shucking off his shoes and making himself comfortable on Bokuto’s bed. It was pretty obvious which one it was; Akaashi’s was neatly made, while Bokuto’s was decidedly _un_ -neat. The duvet half-lay on the floor, sheet had come off the mattress in one corner, and there was a pile of dirty clothes at the foot.

“Well, my personal favourites are Two-Headed Shark Attack, Sharktopus versus Pteracuda, and Sharknado,” Bokuto said as he shoved the pile of clothes from the bed and onto the floor.

“Oh my god, Sharknado, hell yes,” Kuroo grinned. They were stupid movies, like, _really_ fucking stupid, but they were also amazing.

Bokuto grinned as well. “I knew you had good taste, my man,” he said, shooting Kuroo a wink as he hooked up his laptop to the TV. Kuroo really didn’t like the little flutter his heart gave at Bokuto’s wink, and was glad that Bokuto was too busy concentrating on setting up the movie to see the blush on Kuroo’s cheeks.

Fucking straight boys.

Once the movie was on, Bokuto settled into the bed next to Kuroo, offering him chips that had been sitting out who knows where for who knows how long. Kuroo ate them anyway. They were still pretty good.

Kuroo started snort-laughing within the first minute and a half, and Bokuto started not long after. They spent the entire movie laughing at the stupid shit that happened, how bad the acting was, and just the general ridiculousness of the movie. It didn’t help that the CGI and special effects were just plain _awful_. Whenever someone died brutally, they would let out an “ohhhh!” followed by yet another bout of laughter. Maybe it was just Kuroo’s imagination, but they seemed as if they were gravitating closer to one another as the movie went by, until their shoulders were flush against one another.

“Oh my god, dude,” Bokuto said at one point during the movie. “I just realized something.”

“What?” Kuroo asked.

“The main character. His name is Fin.”

Kuroo knitted his eyebrows together. “So? That’s a pretty common name. Like that kid from Adventure Time.”

“No, no, dude. It’s _Fin_! As in a shark fin?”

Kuroo’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, _dude_! I can’t believe I didn’t notice that!” He burst out into laughter yet again. His stomach was beginning to cramp a little. “This movie is too much!”

“It’s awesome,” Bokuto grinned.

Kuroo’s brain faltered for a moment. He really did love that smile. “It is. Hey, do you have the other ones as well?”

Bokuto snorted. “Do I? Is that even a question?”

“Bro, we should totally watch them after this.”

“Bro, yes!”

They settled back into their cushions, munching on the last of the chips. When their fingers brushed together as they reached into the packet at the same time, Kuroo jerked back, flushing a little. Seriously, what was he? A virgin highschooler? He was past this.

Around the beginning of the second one (Sharknado 2: The Second One), Akaashi came into the dorm. He glanced at Bokuto and Kuroo, and then the TV, and rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, Bokuto? This again?” Akaashi sighed as he dumped his bag next to his desk. “And you’ve roped Kuroo into it, too?”

“Hey, hey, Akaashi!” Bokuto greeted. “This is art, you know!”

“I have to agree with Bokuto on this one,” Kuroo said, nodding solemnly.

Akaashi just rolled his eyes and sighed again as he sat at his desk, pulling out a textbook and file of notes. He slipped on a pair of headphones, and connected them to his phone, obviously trying to drown out Kuroo and Bokuto’s nonsense.

After the second movie, they took a bathroom break, and Bokuto changed into sleeping clothes. He lent Kuroo a pair of pyjama pants, but Kuroo insisted that he was fine to sleep in his own shirt. When they were done, they settled in for the third glorious movie in the series. Kuroo felt himself start to get a little drowsy around when George RR Martin died, but tried his best to stay awake. He let out a yawn, but fought to keep up with Bokuto’s jokes as long as he could.

In the end, he wasn’t sure when he fell asleep.

When he woke up, his head was in Bokuto’s lap. He jerked awake just as the end credits were playing, and tried to take stock of his surroundings. He was in Bokuto’s lap. Okay. That was something. He could hear soft, slow breathing from above him. That meant Bokuto had fallen asleep as well. He just sincerely hoped that Bokuto hadn’t bore witness to Kuroo being in his lap. When he looked up, Akaashi was watching him, giving him an almost _knowing_ smirk. Kuroo refused to think about what that meant. Akaashi moved on without a word, climbing into his own bed. Kuroo allowed himself a glance up at Bokuto. He was leaning at an angle against the pillows and headboard, head cocked to the side and drooling slightly. He looked so damn peaceful. Kuroo didn’t think that he’d ever seen him like this. It was… Nice. Bokuto was pretty. He felt an affectionate smile tug at his lips, but quickly stopped himself. It really hit him then, finally.

Man, Kuroo was _fucked_.

Coming to that realization, he sat up quickly. What should he do? He didn’t want to lose Bokuto - that was for sure. He supposed he could just… Carry on with this. This friendship. It was great as it was. It would be enough.

Bokuto stirred, wiping the drool from his face. “Hu-whaa…?”

Kuroo rubbed his eye and yawned, trying to act nonchalant. “The movie ended. I’m exhausted. We should go to bed.”

Bokuto yawned as well. “Yeah, man. Sure.”

They both got up, lifted the covers, and then nestled underneath them. Kuroo let himself drift off to sleep, trying not to pay attention to Bokuto’s warmth, or how the other’s breath tickled against the back of his neck.

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, Bokuto was a cuddler. A _big_ one. Kuroo wasn’t sure that he minded. Bokuto was warm and strong, and Kuroo couldn’t help but feel safe in his arms. But it also did terrible things to his heart and composure.

When he woke up the next morning, Bokuto was spooning him, and their legs were interlocked. Kuroo blinked his eyes open, and then froze. He didn’t know what to do. Part of him wanted to just cuddle back into Bokuto’s embrace, but the other part of him wanted to get the _fuck_ out of there – and he honestly couldn’t tell which was the more rational at that point.

In the end, he chose to try and get away. But subtly. He was going to be subtle and mature about this. He tried to disentangle himself from Bokuto without waking him, wiggling and shifting as gently as he could. It seemed to be working. Bokuto just kept on sleeping, letting out soft snores every now and then. He was almost all the way out when he lost his balance and fell straight to the floor. He hit it hard, knocking his head against the carpet. He swore and let out a groan, forgetting that he was supposed to be quiet.

“…Bro?” He heard a soft call from above. “You okay?”

Kuroo groaned again as he sat up, rubbing the spot on his forehead that was most definitely going to become a lump. “My head,” he complained.

Bokuto winced. “Ouch. Sorry, bro. Was I hogging the bed again?”

Kuroo tried not to flushed when he remembered how intertwined they had been. “Something like that,” he croaked, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

“Yeah… I do that.” Bokuto grinned, shrugging.

“Anyway,” Kuroo said, standing up. He still felt the overwhelming urge to get _out_ and try to forget about Bokuto spooning him. About just how royally fucked he was. “I should get going. I need to get to class, and it should be safe to go back to my room now. I’ll wash these for you and give them back.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, bro,” Bokuto said. “See you later.”

“Yep. If you don’t come by to study soon, I’ll tell Akaashi that you’ve been bunking our study sessions,” he teased as he made his way out of the room.

Bokuto pouted. “Aww, no, dude! You wouldn’t! That’s too mean!” He whined.

Kuroo just laughed and shut the door behind him. Let Bokuto reach his own conclusions; it was more fun that way. Not two seconds later he felt his phone, which he’d grabbed before leaving, buzz in his hand. He didn’t even have to look to know that it was Bokuto.

 **Bokuto:** you wouldn’t really would you??? :(

Kuroo snickered, tapping out a reply as he walked back to his room.

 **Kuroo** : wouldn’t I? ;)

 **Bokuto** : bro :( :( :(

Kuroo smiled to himself and put his phone away as he reached his room. He unlocked his door and stepped inside. Kenma was still in bed, cuddling Hinata. Both chatted idly, wearing smiles on their faces. While Hinata’s was huge and bright, Kenma’s was small – but Kuroo could tell that he was extremely happy.

Kuroo paused for a moment, taking the scene in, and then said, “Jesus you guys are sickly sweet.”

Kenma looked up at him, but didn’t seem phased. “Ah, good morning, Kuro. Where were you last night?”

He yawned, scratching the back of his head, as he flopped down on the couch. He really did need to get to class. But he was just so damn lazy. “I crashed at Bokuto’s last night. We watched Sharknado.”

“Bokuto?” Kenma asked with raised eyebrows. Kuroo was about to huff out a response when Hinata cut in.

“Oh, Bokuto! The dude with the really awesome pointy hair? And looks kind of like an owl?” He asked.

Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh. At least he wasn’t the only one who saw the resemblance. “Yeah, that guy.”

“I play volleyball with him! He’s really awesome at spiking. He’s all like _gwaah_ and _pow_!” Hinata exclaimed. _Gwaah_ and _pow_? Seriously, just who was this kid?

“Aren’t you a little short to play volleyball?” Kuroo deadpanned.

Hinata huffed. “I might be short, but I can jump _really_ high!” Kuroo’s lips pulled into an amused smirk, and he cast a look at Kenma, who just gave him a serious nod. Before Kuroo could reply, Hinata added, “How do you know Bokuto, anyway?”

“It’s a long and embarrassing story,” Kuroo said. “But we’re bros now. He lives just downstairs.”

“Is that all, Kuro?” Kenma asked pointedly.

“No,” Kuroo sighed. “I’m so _fucked_ , Kenma. He’s so pretty when he sleeps. And he spooned me last night by accident. _Spooned_ me.”

“Why don’t you tell him?” Hinata asked.

“It’s not that simple, shrimpy.”

Hinata cocked his head to the side. “It’s not?”

“Kuro, you’re overthinking things again.” Kenma shot him one of his looks.

“Maybe, but what if he’s straight? I can’t be falling for a straight guy,” Kuroo complained. “Falling for straight guys _sucks_.” Kenma sighed and opened his mouth to say something, but Kuroo held a hand up and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, bro. I should get ready for class now, anyway. I’m already going to miss my first lecture.”

Kenma clearly wasn’t pleased with how Kuroo was handling this, but just shrugged and didn’t press the issue further. “Fine, have a nice day.”

“You too,” he said, standing up again and getting ready for the day.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo got the text just as he was leaving the library.

It was quite late; the sun was already setting. He found that he studied better in the silence of the library than back in the dorm, where there was Kenma and TV and the internet (and, occasionally, Bokuto) to distract him. He was just stepping out into the cold when his phone buzzed in his pocked. He pulled it out and read the text on the screen.

 **Bokuto:** Bro, I need help!!!!!1!!

Kuroo frowned, feeling a bubble of worry in his stomach.

 **Kuroo:** What’s up??

 **Bokuto:** Just come to the gymnasium! Quick!!!!!!

Kuroo wasn’t sure what to do. Bokuto was definitely prone to vast exaggeration, but he couldn’t help feeling a little anxious. What if something really had happened? Bokuto _was_ a giant idiot, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d broken his leg and was slowly choking, tangled in a volleyball net. In the end, Kuroo’s worry won out, and he settled for running to the gymnasium as fast as he could. Which was pretty fast if he did say so himself. He didn’t do track for nothing.

He got there in a matter of minutes – which was impressive, considering it was nearly on the other side of the campus. It did, however, mean that when he reached it, he had to take a second to just breathe. He leaned against the doorway, half-doubled over, panting heavily. Was Bokuto okay? Had the volleyball net suffocated him yet?

“Hey, hey, Kuroo! That was fast!” Kuroo’s head snapped up at the sound of Bokuto’s voice. He was approaching from a nearby court, volleyball tucked underarm. “Whoa, you look out of breath. Did you run here or something? Anyway, whatever. Now that you’re here, come help me practice! Akaashi said he needed to study, and Hinata has a date with his boyfriend.”

Kuroo’s eyebrow twitched. “Are you fucking kidding me, Bo?”

Bokuto stopped just short of Kuroo, and his face fell just a bit. Kuroo felt a little bit guilty for causing that expression. “What? You don’t want to practice?”

“I thought you were in trouble, you moron!” Kuroo exclaimed, swatting Bokuto on the arm. “Who sends that kind of message out of the blue, when you just want to practice? I thought you’d like, gone and broken a limb or something!”

Bokuto broke out into a grin. “Awww, dude. I didn’t know you cared that much. And you ran all the way here ‘cause you thought I was in trouble?”

“Yes, you asshole,” Kuroo huffed, feeling more than a little embarrassed. He knew his cheeks were bright red now, but also knew that there was no use in trying to hide it.

“That’s adorable,” Bokuto cooed. Kuroo just swatted him on the arm again.

“Shut up. You wanted to practice, right? So let’s practice.”

“What, really? Awesome!” Bokuto exclaimed, jumping a little in excitement.

 _What a dork_ , Kuroo thought, but couldn’t help but find it endearing.

“Yeah, sure. I haven’t played in a long time, but it should be fun,” Kuroo said, stepping into the gym and following Bokuto to the court he was using. He set his bags down and got into position on the opposite side of the court from Bokuto and another guy. The poor sod had probably also gotten tricked into this. He looked more than a little grumpy about being there.

“Are we doing this or what?” The guy called to Bokuto.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Kageyama,” Bokuto teased. “Let’s go!”

Bokuto threw the ball into the air, above Kageyama’s head, and ran forward. Kuroo tensed his muscles, preparing himself. Memories of playing volleyball came flooding back to him, and it was easy to get back into the swing of things. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he kind of actually missed the sport. Kageyama hit the ball to the left, and Kuroo followed. He managed to get himself in front of the net just as Bokuto was readying to jump. They left the ground at the same time, Kuroo holding his hands up in an attempt to block. Bokuto’s arm drew back, and then swung forward, hitting the ball at full force. It bounced off the tips of Kuroo’s fingers and landed on the ground behind him. As he landed, he had to take a moment to stare at his hands, where the ball hit. His fingers stung, and were reddening a bit. The feeling was so familiar, and yet so distant to him. And Bokuto’s spike was impressive. More than impressive.

“ _Gwaah_ indeed,” he muttered to himself.

Bokuto frowned, looking confused. “Did you just say _gwaah_?”

Kuroo looked up. “Huh? Oh, yeah. My roommate’s boyfriend used that to describe your spikes.”

“Wait, is your roommate’s boyfriend Hinata?” Bokuto asked.

“Yeah, why?”

Bokuto merely hummed. “He and Kenma make a good match.”

“They do.”

“Anyway, that was a super impressive block, dude!” Bokuto exclaimed, switching gears so fast that it nearly made Kuroo’s head spin. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever get used to it completely. “Are you sure you haven’t secretly been playing volleyball recently?”

Kuroo laughed, and glanced down at his hands again. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Don’t you miss it?” He asked.

Kuroo shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

“Then you should totally join the team! I’m sure the coach would love to have you.”

“I’ll think about it. Now come on, owl boy. Your setter’s looking grumpy.”

Bokuto looked at Kageyama and laughed, but got back to practicing anyway.

They practiced for a long time, longer than they probably should have. Kageyama left pretty soon after Kuroo joined, but they still found a way on their own. Bokuto and Kuroo worked well together. Half way through the practice, Bokuto decided that he was getting too hot and took off his shirt, tossing it to one side. Kuroo had to swallow and force himself to concentrate. Force his gaze not to wander, not to trail down Bokuto’s torso, not to drink in the sight of his incredible abs. In the end, he was only partly successful.

Kuroo knew that he probably should have just abandoned Bokuto hours ago when the ball dropped between them. They both dove for it at the same time in a stupidly desperate attempt to keep it off of the ground (volleyball instincts, of course). They ended up in a tangle of limbs, rolling across the floor as the ball bounced off of Kuroo’s head and into the distance.

When they eventually came to a stop, Bokuto was on top of Kuroo, faces just centimetres apart. Kuroo could feel Bokuto’s breath dancing across his face, and had to suppress a shiver. If Kuroo just gave into his wants, he could lift himself up, just a little bit, and press their lips together. He really wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. Bokuto himself seemed a little dumbfounded, like he wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Kuroo became painfully, painfully aware that Bokuto was still shirtless, and immediately knew that he needed to get away lest he pop a boner. If Kuroo was really, truly desperate, he could have sworn that Bokuto’s gaze flicked down to his lips for a moment. But he wasn’t. Okay, maybe he was a little. But he was, at heart, a sensible man. So he began to squirm a little.

“Um… Bro… Could you…?” He tried, but found that he couldn’t actually ask Bokuto to get off him. Because he really didn’t want to.

Bokuto seemed to realize what he was trying to say anyway. “Oh! Yeah, sure, sorry,” he said, almost scrambling away. “It’s getting late anyway. We should probably go.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo agreed, accepting Bokuto’s hand up. They packed up their stuff in relative silence, and then made their way back to their dorm together.

Man, Kuroo was well and truly fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sharknado is art.  
> Come talk to me about bokuroo at at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo and Bokuto get drunk and break into a zoo. Kenma and Akaashi are not impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kind words and support! This is going to be my longest fic to date, so it's very encouraging to hear that you like it!

It was late. The sun had set more than an hour ago, and yet Kuroo didn’t want to go inside. He might have been freezing his ass off, but the cold air was refreshing in its own way. He lay down on the concrete roof of his dorm building, staring up at the sky, as he took another drag of his cigarette.

He didn’t smoke often, but it helped him clear his head from time to time when he needed it. And oh, boy, did he need it. His whole… _predicament_ , for lack of a better word, with Bokuto was really starting to give him a headache. As much as he tried to push away his feelings, to ignore the thoughts of Bokuto that seemed to insist on popping into his head, he couldn’t. It felt like he was scrabbling for purchase onto a state of being that, well, didn’t involve having a crush on his friend, but he was just falling further and further down into a special pit of Hell named “The Abyss of Straight Crushes”. It was like the harder he tried, the harder he fell.

Of course Kuroo had to fall into it. Of course. Because that was just his life. He briefly wondered what his parents would think if they knew he had yet another ‘gay thing’, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside. He doubted his parents would ever understand. It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on it. Besides, it still wasn’t for another good few weeks that his parents would be in town; he didn’t need to think about them till then.

Just then, he heard the door to the roof open. He stiffened, bolting upright. Who was it? A staff member? Shit, he wasn’t supposed to be up here. He could get in serious trouble if the dorm head found him.

“I thought it was against the dorm rules to be up here,” came a familiar, teasing voice. Bokuto. Of course it was. It was as if his thoughts had summoned him. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Then why are you up here?” Kuroo shot back. “And I do. Sometimes. When I’m feeling pensive.”

Bokuto snorted as he moved to sit down next to Kuroo. “As if _rules_ ever stopped me. Kenma said you’d be up here, that you were ‘ _overthinking simple things again_ ’,” he said, and Kuroo froze. Dammit, Kenma. Just what had the boy told Bokuto? Did he make a pass about his feelings for him? “So, like a good bro, I came up here to find you, and I brought booze.” He held up a bottle of tequila, and gave it a little shake.

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Tequila? Really? That shit is dangerous.”

Bokuto barked out a laugh, and opened the bottle, taking a swig of it. He obviously tried to suppress a cough as he offered the bottle to Kuroo. “Here, have some. Tequila washes all your woes away.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine, but you’re the responsible one here if I decide we need to do something stupid,” he warned, and took a swig himself. He couldn’t stop himself from coughing. The tequila burned as it slid down his throat, and a warmth quickly spread through his chest. It was nasty stuff, but it did its job.

“Then I feel very sorry for us, because I have no self-control,” Bokuto giggled. Straight up _giggled_. Oh god, it was cute. What was wrong with Kuroo? “So, what’s on your mind, my man?”

Kuroo paused for a moment, trying to think of a response. They passed the bottle between themselves quickly, taking one swig after the next, so his brain-to-mouth filter was quickly becoming useless. “My parents,” he half lied. “They’re gonna be in town in a few weeks. I… Never really lived up to their expectations.”

Bokuto’s mouth dropped open, as if that statement was so completely baffling that he couldn’t even begin to understand. “Whaat? That’s so ridiculous!” Bokuto exclaimed. “You’re cool, you have a great social life, you stay fit, not to mention you’re really fuckin’ smart! Like, your grades are amazing!”

Kuroo gave him a thin smile and shook his head. “No… It’s not because of that. It’s…” He paused, feeling a lump in his throat. He found it difficult to speak. He hadn’t felt this way since he had first come out to his parents. It was always nerve-wracking, not knowing how people would judge you when you brought it up. Especially since it was Bokuto. But, he forced the words out nonetheless. “It’s because I’m bisexual. They don’t approve.”

Bokuto’s mouth fell into an ‘o’ shape, as if the pieces had finally fallen into place. “I see. That sucks, man. I can’t imagine what that’s like,” he said, taking another swig from the bottle. _That’s right, because you’re straight_ , Kuroo thought. “Here, man, have some more. We’re gonna make you forget about your shitty parents tonight.”

Kuroo felt affection swell inside his chest. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he almost wanted to cry. He always was an emotional drunk. Pushing back the tears, he nodded. “Thanks, Bo,” he said hoarsely, downing more of the tequila.

“Also, since when do you call me ‘Bo’?” Bokuto asked, grinning.

“What? Don’t you like it? I think it’s fitting. Kinda sounds like ‘bro’.”

Bokuto snorted, taking the bottle from Kuroo and drinking from it. “Didn’t think of it like that. That’s actually a pretty awesome nickname.”

Kuroo just smiled and drank some more.

It wasn’t long before they were both well and truly drunk, and the bottle was nearly empty. Neither of them had eaten all that recently, so the alcohol worked its magic pretty quickly. Kuroo knew that that wasn’t good – you should _never_ drink on an empty stomach – but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care right now. He and Bokuto were on their backs, giggling and snorting at stupid shit that, by all means, wasn’t even very funny.

Kuroo found himself drifting closer and closer to Bokuto throughout the evening, until he was laughing into Bokuto’s bicep. And oh, what a bicep it was. Bokuto had such great arms. Kuroo really wished that he could be wrapped up in them again.

“Dude,” Bokuto said, breaking their current fit of laughter. “We should do something. You know. Get your mind off things.”

Kuroo hummed, a lazy grin resting on his lips. “Like what?”

Bokuto shrugged. “I dunno. Ummm…. Something fun.”

Kuroo snorted. “No, Bo. We should totally do something boring. Like study.”

Bokuto’s lip jutted out into a pout. Kuroo pushed down the urge to catch it between his teeth. “I can’t study when I’m drunk.”

“You can’t study when you’re sober.”

“Mean!”

Kuroo stuck his tongue out. “I wasn’t being serious. What do you want to do?”

“I dunno. Something wild! Something drastic! Something memorable! Like… We should break into the zoo!”

Kuroo frowned. “The zoo?”

“Yeah, the zoo!” Bokuto grinned. He looked incredibly excited about his idea. Kuroo wasn’t sure that it was a good one, but hey. He was drunk. Why the fuck not?

“Dude,” he said. “Let’s go break into the zoo.”

“Really? Hell yeah!”

They both stumbled to their feet and made their way downstairs, finishing their bottle of tequila and discarding it as they went. They passed Kenma and Akaashi on their way, who had been chatting on the staircase between the second and third floors. The two gave Bokuto and Kuroo suspicious frowns, which only deepened when they burst into uproarious laughter, but didn’t say anything.

They probably should have.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo fell. He landed in some bushes, and groaned. This was _so_ not a good idea. But he was committed now. And if Kuroo was one thing, he was a man that stuck to his commitments. Even if they were really fucking stupid.

“Watch out!” He heard from above.

Kuroo rolled away just in time for Bokuto to land in the leaves where he had been lying. “Jeez, warn a guy.”

Bokuto just grinned. “I did.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes and stood up, dusting himself off. “Well, here we are,” he said. He offered Bokuto a hand and helped the other man up. If their fingers lingered together for just a moment, it was probably Kuroo’s imagination. They stumbled out of the bushes, still pretty damn drunk from all the tequila.

“Dude!” Bokuto exclaimed, and just gave Kuroo a sheepish look when he shushed him. “Dude!” He repeated more quietly. “We’re here! In the zoo! We broke into the zoo!”

Kuroo returned his grin. “We did. Now, let’s go check it out.”

“Hell yeah!” Bokuto returned, earning him another _shhhh_ from Kuroo. Bokuto giggled.

“No, really, we have to be quiieeett,” Kuroo whispered, trying to sound serious, but ended up joining Bokuto in a giggle fit.

When they finally calmed down, Bokuto grabbed Kuroo’s arm and charged off. Kuroo was acutely aware of the contact, even if it was through layers of winter clothing. Bokuto could be handsy at times, and it drove Kuroo nothing short of crazy.

First, they visited the panthers; it was the closest exhibit to the fence they’d hopped. The panthers were awake at this time of night, being nocturnal, so Kuroo supposed it was a good place to start. A few panthers lay in a group together, one grooming itself while the other two played. Another panther paced around the far side of the exhibit.

“Hey, Kuroo, that one looks kind of like you!” Bokuto exclaimed, gesturing to one of the panthers. Its fur was slightly longer than the others, and it stuck out in all directions. The resemblance was uncanny, as much as Kuroo didn’t want to admit it.

Kuroo snorted. “Yeah? Well let’s go see some animals that look like you, owl boy.”

Kuroo walked off, knowing Bokuto would follow – the other still hadn’t let go of his arm. Kuroo wasn’t really sure what to do about it.

They made their way to the owl exhibit, on the other side of the zoo with the rest of the birds. It would probably be best to look at all the nocturnal animals, since they would actually be awake and doing things. It would be pointless to risk getting caught by the cops just to see some animals sleeping. Even if that had been the case, however, Kuroo probably would have still felt the thrill of excitement at doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing – at doing it with Bokuto, no less.

When they reached the owls, Kuroo quickly found one that was black and white. Its feathers peaked into two points on its head, and when it stopped grooming itself to look up at them and blink, Kuroo burst into laughter.

“It’s youuuuu! It’s you!” Kuroo wheezed out. “You really _are_ an owl boy!”

Bokuto tried to pout, but laughed along with Kuroo anyway. “Yeah, well, you’re a cat!” Kuroo just laughed even harder. “Heey, what’s so funny?”

“You are, you moron!” He snorted.

“Yeah… Well… You’re a… Imbecile!” Bokuto blurted out.

“Ohoho, a big word for a guy who couldn’t even do a simple math problem the other day,” Kuroo teased.

“I know words! I just… Remember stuff better when I’m drunk. I guess.”

“Of course you do.”

“Say… Thought anymore about the volleyball team? It’ll be fun!” Bokuto said. “We’d make an awesome team!”

Kuroo shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not sure if I could handle seeing your ugly mug more than I already do.”

“Bro!” Bokuto wined.

“I’m just joking. Your mug is very pretty,” Kuroo assured him, flushing a little when he realized what he’d just said.

Bokuto flushed as well. He grinned and exclaimed another, happier, “bro!”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. “Thank you, Bokuto.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“For all of this. For the booze, and for dragging me along to break into a zoo. It was fun.”

Bokuto huffed. “Hey, I didn’t drag you anywhere! You were just as into this idea as I was!”

Kuroo laughed and shrugged. “You got me there.”

“But you’re welcome. This _was_ fun. Something for the memory books.”

“Hell yeah,” Kuroo agreed. “Now, let’s get out of here before the cops arrive.”

“Sounds good,” Bokuto grinned.

They turned away from the owls, and made their way back towards where they’d come in, laughing and shoving each other playfully as they went.

And that’s when they heard the sirens.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo woke up on the cold, hard floor of a jail cell, pressed up against Bokuto. He blinked his eyes open blearily, trying to take stock of his surroundings. How had he ended up here again? His head was pounding, and he felt like he was going to throw up any second. He’d been drinking, then.

It came back to him, slowly. Tequila with Bokuto on the roof of the dorm. Then… What? They’d left the dorm. They’d gone, somewhere. Somewhere they shouldn’t have.

Kuroo bolted upright, jostling Bokuto. They’d broken into the zoo. They’d broken into the zoo and gone and gotten themselves arrested.

And Kuroo had thrown up on a police officer.

Man, Kenma was going to _kill_ him.

He hugged his knees up to his chest and covered his mouth with his hand, trying to supress the urge to vomit everywhere. He heard a groan from beside him as Bokuto stirred, sitting up as well. Bokuto pressed a hand to his forehead, and looked about as good as Kuroo felt.

“Dude,” Bokuto croaked. “Where are we?”

“We got arrested,” Kuroo sighed.

“Wait, what? Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately,” he lamented. “Apparently breaking into the zoo in the middle of the night _wasn’t_ the most genius of ideas.”

“Whatever. The Po-po just don’t get our geniosity. It was loads of fun.”

Kuroo grinned despite himself. “It was. But now, unfortunately, we’re in jail and I’m about two seconds from throwing up. Oh, I also threw up on one of the officers last night, if you don’t remember. They probably would have let us go, too, if it wasn’t for that.”

Bokuto laughed. “Oh my god, dude! You threw up on a police officer!”

“I threw up on a police officer,” Kuroo groaned. “I can’t believe us.”

“Hey, one for the memory books, like I said,” Bokuto joked.

“But how are we going to get out of here?” Kuroo said. “I’m going to miss all my classes.”

Bokuto paused, a frown falling onto his face. “That’s… A good question.”

“I guess we just have to wait, and hope that Kenma and Akaashi come get us. If they ever speak to us again.”

“You’re right… Akaashi’s going to be so mad.”

“So mad,” Kuroo agreed. “I’m going to have to buy Kenma that new game he wants.”

As if on cue, a familiar voice came from the entrance to the cell. “You’d better,” Kenma huffed irritably. “I can’t believe you got yourselves into this.”

“You guys are absolute morons,” Akaashi chided. “Morons. Who does something like this?”

Kuroo looked up to see the door to the cell being opened by a grumpy police officer, next to whom stood Kenma and Akaashi, looking just as grumpy. They both had disappointed parent expressions on their faces, and Kuroo felt a wave of guilt crash over him. What time was it, even? It was probably super early, judging by the dark circles under their eyes. Oh god, Kuroo was the worst kind of person. How could he do this to Kenma?

“You’re being released,” the police officer muttered. “Out.”

Kuroo scrambled upright and out of the cell, followed closely behind by Bokuto. Kuroo avoided eye contact with Kenma and Akaashi. They’d been forced to pay his and Bokuto’s bail; they were probably super angry. Kuroo would have to do something to make it up to them.

It was only when they were all in Akaashi’s car, driving back to campus, that Kenma broke the silence.

“Seriously, Kuro, are you an idiot?” He grumbled.

“Apparently,” he said, curling against the car door. He still felt incredibly nauseous. It was all he could do not to throw up all over Akaashi’s car.

“An idiot who threw up on a police officer,” Bokuto snickered.

“Shut up! I’ll throw up on you, too!” Kuroo barked, then pressed his face against the cool window, groaning.

“You threw up on a police officer?” Kenma asked. Kuroo glanced at him. He still looked mostly unimpressed, but Kuroo could tell that he was trying not to laugh.

“Why is my misfortune so funny to everyone?” Kuroo complained. “I feel like I’m going to die.”

“I’m sorry, bro,” Bokuto said, grinning. He totally wasn’t sorry at all. Kuroo pouted. “If it makes you feel any better, I got arrested, too.”

“I know you did, Bokuto,” Akaashi snapped. “Why the hell would you break into a zoo?”

“Kuroo was sad. It… Seemed like a good idea at the time. There was tequila involved.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes. “Of course there was. Just, please, Bokuto – don’t do something this stupid again.”

“I don’t think that’s something he can rightly promise,” Kuroo muttered.

“Hey!” Bokuto whined.

“Good point, Kuroo. Bokuto, if you do something this stupid again, I won’t let you get yakiniku for at least three months,” Akaashi said.

“Akaashi, no! You wouldn’t!”

“I would.”

“Harsh, dude,” Kuroo chuckled. Kenma just shot him a look through the rear-view mirror, and Kuroo snapped his mouth shut. “I’ll buy you that new game, Kenma. I promise.”

“You will buy me that new game. And you’ll buy me the next one, too,” he informed Kuroo.

Kuroo nodded. “Right. Of course. Yes, sir.”

Kenma looked at him for a moment, and then settled into his seat, seeming to relax a little. “Good. Please don’t worry me like that again, Kuro. That was very dangerous.”

“Sorry, Kenma.”

“It’s okay. Get some rest. You look awful.”

“Sorry Akaashi,” Bokuto piped up.

“You better be. You look like shit, too.”

Bokuto opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again, at a loss for what to say. But, Akaashi was smiling, so Bokuto smiled as well as he curled up, imitating Kuroo’s posture. They drifted to sleep like that, and though Kuroo felt like utter shit, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret that night with Bokuto. It was one for the memory books, alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, come find me at bokutos-kuroo. Bonafide bokuroo trash.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terushima throws a party. There's drinking, beer pong, and - you guessed it - spin the bottle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spin the bottle is my favourite trope, sorry not sorry.

Three days after the zoo incident, Kuroo was even more fucked than ever.

He sat on the couch – if the way he spread himself out could be called sitting – and watched TV, with Kenma and Kinata curled into one another at the other end. Hinata made some lame joke and poked Kenma in the side, grinning with his whole face. Kenma gave a soft chuckle and smiled back at the ginger boy. Kuroo was happy for them, he was. It was good to see Kenma come out of his shell like this. Hinata obviously made him happy.

But, at the same time, all he could think was – _why can’t that be me with Bokuto?_

His mind supplied an answer easily. It was because he was straight, obviously. That didn’t make it any less frustrating and unsatisfying, however. The whole situation sucked. He needed to come up with a plan to get over Bokuto. He definitely didn’t want to lose his friendship – he was a great guy, after all – so cutting him off was out of the question. Not to mention that Kenma and Akaashi had become friends, so even if he wanted to, it would be difficult and unfair on them. The two of them seemed to have bonded over being tired of Bokuto and Kuroo’s shit.

So, what could he do?

He could have a one night stand. That would probably only offer temporary relief, however. He’d have a quick fuck, feel good, but then his feelings would come back as soon as he saw Bokuto’s face the next day. He knew himself well enough that he knew how hard getting rid of his feelings would be.

Date someone else, then? He wasn’t sure. It might help, but if the other person ended up falling for him while he still had feelings for Bokuto, it would be unfair on them. Kind of a dick move, really. He’d been used like that before, and he knew how awful it could be.

He sighed loudly and settled back further into the couch, half hoping it would swallow him up and he could just… lay there for a few months. And then when he came back out he’d be feelings-free. That would be great.

“Kuro, you’re overthinking things again,” Kenma piped up. Kuroo turned to look at him. Kenma was watching him with an exasperated expression, fully knowing that Kuroo would most likely keep doing it until the situation blew up in his face.

“I’m not,” he sulked.

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay, maybe I am a little,” he admitted with another sigh. “But I’m so _fucked_ , Kenma. I have this giant crush on Bokuto that I can’t seem to get rid of, and there’s about a 99.9% chance that he’s straight! I hate this. Why can’t I just fall for a nice twink for once? Or a girl? That would make my parents happy, at least.”

“I don’t get why you don’t just talk to him about it,” Hinata said. “You’d feel better about it, even if nothing happens. Hiding your feelings always makes everything worse.”

“Yeah, but what if I ruin our friendship by talking to him about it?” Kuroo retorted. “What if it weirds him out and he doesn’t want to be friends with me? I’d rather have a friendship than nothing.”

“But he already knows you’re bisexual, right?”

“Yeah, but there’s a difference between that and him actually having to deal with me thirsting after him. If he’s one of _those_ straight people, I could totally scare him away. You know the ones – like those girls at sleepovers that find out their friend is queer and is all like ‘eewwww, what if she has a crush on me?’” Kuroo complained, voice pitching higher in an attempt to imitate a girl’s. “I’m so fucked, Kenma. Why can’t I ever stop my feelings? This is the wooooorst.”

Kenma hummed. “I still think you’re overthinking things, Kuro,” he said. “I doubt that Bokuto is that kind of person, but it’s up to you what you want to do. Just don’t let things get out of hand. I know how you get when you’re depressed. It’s really annoying.”

Kuroo pouted. “Thanks, Kenma. I feel so loved. I probably am overthinking things, but… I can’t help it. I don’t want to mess things up. I really like him.”

“I can see that,” Kenma said. “He makes you happy. And you let yourself get into even more stupid situations than usual with him.”

“Come on, Kenma, when are you going to drop that? I already bought you your game!”

“Not until the next one comes out and you buy that for me, too.”

“But, Kenma, that’s _months_ away!” He exclaimed.

“So I guess I won’t be dropping it for months, then,” Kenma stated with a shrug.

“Dropping what?” Hinata asked, perking up. “Dropping what?”

“Nothing,” Kuroo said, trying to get the subject changed. Such was not his luck.

“Kuro broke into a zoo with Bokuto and was so drunk that he threw up on one of the police officers that arrested them,” Kenma told him.

Hinata’s eyes widened almost comically, and he let out a bright laugh. “Seriously? You guys did that?” He questioned. Kuroo nodded solemnly. “That’s so cool! You guys are so badass!”

Kuroo smiled and chuckled. “That’s one way of looking at it, I guess.”

Kenma jabbed Hinata in the side. “Hey, don’t go following in their footsteps. You’ll get arrested as well. I don’t need my boyfriend giving me a heart attack along with my best friend.”

Hinata rubbed the spot where Kenma had jabbed him, but a huge grin plastered itself on his face anyway. “Boyfriend?”

“Yes, boyfriend,” Kenma murmured, suddenly looking embarrassed.

“You haven’t called me that before! I’m so happy!” Hinata pulled Kenma closer and smacked a wet kiss against his cheek.

Kuroo smiled at the scene. They really were adorable, those two. He wasn’t sure how Kenma put up with all of Hinata’s energy so much of the time – there was a _lot_ of it – but he did, and the two of them worked together extremely well.

He settled back into his original position and turned his attention to the TV again feeling happy for the both of them, and yet the question still nagged at the back of his head.

_Why can’t that be me with Bokuto?_

 

* * *

 

“I just don’t get it!” Bokuto complained, ruffling his own hair and glaring down at his page like it had personally offended him. They were sitting at Kuroo’s coffee table, studying and working on their individual assignments.

Kuroo sighed. This again. He just really hoped that Bokuto didn’t start seriously sulking. He was impossible to deal with when he got like that. “What don’t you get?” He asked, trying not to get frustrated with him.

“This, here,” he said, pointing to the part of the question he’d been stuck on for the last ten minutes. “I just don’t understand. I hate this. I hate studying.”

“I know you do, Bo, but you have to. If you fail and get kicked out of university, you won’t be able to play volleyball anymore.”

Bokuto snapped his head up and looked almost on the verge of tears. _That_ got his attention. “Fiiiine! I’ll study! I don’t wanna not be able to play volleyball anymore.”

“Good,” Kuroo chuckled. “Now, here, this is how you do it.”

He leaned over Bokuto to look at his worksheet and notes, scanning the question quickly. He grabbed a pen, circling parts of the question and jotting down notes of his own as he explained how to do it. Bokuto didn’t have the same major as Kuroo, but some of their classes were the same, and others were pretty similar, so it wasn’t too difficult to help him with his studies. Bokuto usually went to Akaashi for help with classes Kuroo wasn’t able to, but Akaashi was a year younger so he couldn’t always be of much assistance.

Kuroo was acutely aware of their close proximity the entire time he leant over Bokuto to help explain the problem. Every time their fingers brushed or their arms bumped, he had to supress a blush and a shiver. Once, when Bokuto gave him an odd look, his stomach almost dropped straight out of him. He prayed that he wasn’t being too obvious. Kenma seemed to think he was.

As he got to the end of his explanation, Bokuto gasped. “Oh, I get it now! So, like this?” He jotted down some notes of his own.

Kuroo nodded, smiling. “Yeah, man, like that. You got this! Don’t sell yourself short,” he encouraged. Bokuto shot him a grin that made his heart melt. “How about you try the next one on your own?”

“Alright! I got this!” He said, finally sounding determined.

They sat in silence for a while longer. Bokuto scribbled down answers on his worksheet, crossing out and rewriting things until his page was almost black with chicken scratch. Kuroo watched him with an amused smile for a moment before turning back to his own assignment. He worked with quiet focus, only pausing once or twice on something he didn’t understand.

It was only twenty five minutes later that he looked back at Bokuto to find that he was passed out on his notes.

“Bokuto!” He yelled, swatting him on the back of his head. “Don’t fall asleep!”

Bokuto bolted upright with a yelp. “Ouch! You don’t have to be so harsh, dude!”

“Hey, if I have to study here, then you do, too.”

“Fine! Okay! I’ll do it!”

“Good!”

“Great!”

“Wonderful!”

“What’s wonderful?” A voice came from the doorway. Kuroo and Bokuto whirled around at the same time to see Oikawa standing there, looking as smug and amused as ever. He laughed. “Wow, you guys are in sync. If it wasn’t for Bokuto’s terrible grades, I’d almost think you guys were the same person.”

“Rude!” Bokuto wailed.

Kuroo snickered. “You know your grades are terrible, that’s why you’re here right now.”

“I know, but still!”

Kuroo turned to Oikawa. “What are you doing here, anyway?” He asked him.

“Oh, I just thought I’d pop by. Iwa-chan is on shift right now, and I’m free so I have nothing better to do,” he said, shrugging.

“Oh, real nice. I feel so appreciated,” Kuroo said, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, you’re my second choice. Doesn’t that count for something?” He shrugged again as he flopped onto Kuroo’s couch.

“Yeah, whatever. Some of us are trying to concentrate here.”

“Nope, bro, Oikawa showing up is definitely a sign from the universe,” Bokuto informed him, gathering his stuff and shoving it into his bag. “I’m done for the day.”

Kuroo sighed. “Fine, but then we’re studying again tomorrow.”

“Fine! But put your stuff away now, watching you study is bumming me out,” he said.

“It’s not my fault you’re a lazy ass,” Kuroo retorted, but packed away his things anyway. When he looked back at Oikawa, he was smiling. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said in a sing-song voice. “You two are just like an old married couple.”

Kuroo spluttered as Bokuto stilled. “Are not!” Kuroo said, cheeks warming.

“The fact that you have to deny that like a five-year-old just proves what I’m saying,” Oikawa teased. “Anyway, are you two going to Terushima’s party tonight?”

“I’m not really sure, to be honest,” Kuroo said. “I thought about it, but I have a lot of work to do right now, so I don’t know.”

“Come on, bro! Live a little!” Bokuto insisted, slapping him on the back. Kuroo coughed and shot him a glare. Bokuto only grinned in return. “We have to go! It’s gonna be _soo_ much fun. Terushima’s parties always are!”

“Seriously, how did we never meet until now? You know all the same people I do.” Kuroo frowned.

Bokuto shrugged. “I dunno, man, but that’s beside the point. Come! Oikawa, help me out here!”

“You should come, Kuroo. You know Bokuto isn’t going to drop the subject until you do,” Oikawa said.

Kuroo threw his hands into the air. “Ugh, fine! But you two owe me drinks the next time we go to the Nest.”

“I knew you’d see some sense eventually,” Bokuto snickered.

Kuroo sighed. This wasn’t going to end well, was it?

But, he supposed, things with Bokuto rarely did. That was the fun of it.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo arrived at the party with Kenma, Bokuto, and Akaashi. Oikawa had left their place shortly before the party to meet up with Iwaizumi, but Kuroo was sure that the both of them would be here somewhere. The door was open when they got there, and the apartment was already filled with smoke. The apartment belonged to Terushima and a couple of his high school buddies, apparently. As soon as they walked through the door, Bokuto’s excitement doubled – if that was even possible. Kuroo had never been out drinking with Bokuto before, but it was sure to be an experience.

“Hell yeah!” Bokuto exclaimed so suddenly that Kuroo actually jumped. “Come on, Kuroo, let’s go get drinks! And shots!”

Kuroo laughed as Bokuto dragged him along. “Wow, right off the bat, huh?”

“Damn straight. Go hard or go home, my man!” Bokuto grinned.

“Well, I’m game. At least Kenma and Akaashi are here to stop us from doing something stupid again.”

“You mean something _fun_.”

“Bo, you don’t have to get arrested to have fun,” Kuroo pointed out.

“But isn’t it more fun with that risk?”

“I swear to god you’re going to be the death of me. One day you’re going to get in serious trouble, and I’m going to have to be the responsible one and that’s when you know we’re going to be in shit,” he lamented.

Bokuto let out a laugh. “We can cross that bridge when we come to it. Now come on, alcohol!”

They made their way to the kitchen, where the alcohol was presumably being kept. They passed by a few vaguely familiar faces as they went, but none of their friends. Terushima was in the kitchen when they entered, and he gave them an energetic and obviously-drunk greeting.

“Heeeey! ‘Bout time you two arrived,” he slurred, slapping their backs and drawing them both into one-armed hugs. “What kind of party would it be without the biggest drinker on campus and someone for the girls to ogle?”

“Someone for the girls to ogle?” Kuroo repeated sceptically. “Isn’t Oikawa here?”

Terushima snorted. “Oikawa’s totally banging Iwaizumi. No fun in ogling someone if you stand no chance, right? Whatever, whatever. You guys are having shots!”

“Hell yeah!” Bokuto cried.

Kuroo just laughed and went along with it. Terushima handed them both cups of beer, and then poured out three shots for each of them. Oh god, Kuroo was totally going to die. But, he’d committed himself. So he was going to do it. He took all three shots with the two of them; one tequila, one caramel vodka, and one jaeger, all of them cheap. Kuroo very nearly threw up right away, not that he was going to admit that to anyone. He spluttered a little bit after the jaeger, his throat burning. Jesus, that was nasty.

“Now, go! Have fun!” Terushima ordered. “I expect you guys back here in an hour for more.”

“Are you trying to kill me?” Kuroo huffed. His tongue already felt heavy and sluggish in his mouth. This was bad.

“Whatever, bro, we’re just helping you have a good time,” Bokuto said, punching him lightly on the arm. “Come on, let’s go find some people. I’m sure someone’s set up a drinking game by now.”

“Whatever you say,” Kuroo sighed, but let himself get dragged off. As much as he was kicking up a fuss, he knew that he was going to have fun. He was just trying to be a tad more responsible than last time. On principle.

When they went to the joint living and dining room, it was packed. Smoke clung to the roof, both cigarette and pot. Bodies clustered across the room, both sitting and standing, and the air was filled with music and laughter. Terushima really did throw the best parties. He could see a couple of people playing beer pong across the room, but he didn’t want to get involved in that just yet. He wanted to spend at least a little time talking to people before he got trashed off his face. He headed straight for a group sitting on the couch, Bokuto following behind as he eyed the beer pong very unsubtly.

He dropped himself onto the armchair adjacent to the couch where Daichi, Sugawara, one of Terushima’s friends, and someone he recognized as one of Oikawa’s high school friends.

“Yo,” he greeted.

“Ah, Kuroo, I thought you said you might not come,” Daichi said, nodding in greeting.

“I probably wasn’t gonna, but this one dragged me here,” he replied, jerking a finger at Bokuto.

Sugawara frowned. “Who?”

Kuroo frowned as well, turning to look at where he thought Bokuto had been standing to find that he wasn’t there anymore. A quick glance around the room told him that he’d wandered off to go play beer pong. He sighed, taking a swig of his beer. “Bokuto. He was here a second ago.”

“Ah, of course,” Sugawara said. “He certainly has a lot of energy.”

“You’re telling me,” Kuroo sighed again.

“Well, so do you,” Daichi pointed out. “Word is, you two broke into the zoo.”

Kuroo sighed for a third time. There was no way in hell he was going to get away from this story, was he?

“Wait, seriously?” Terushima’s friend piped up. “You’re shitting me. That’s not just a rumour?”

“Unfortunately not.” Kuroo grimaced. “There was tequila involved. It was Bokuto’s idea.”

“Of course it was,” Sugawara said. “But you _did_ go along with it. I can’t imagine Kenma was happy.”

“He wasn’t. Now, I should probably go check on Bokuto before he sets something on fire.”

Daichi laughed. “Good idea.”

Kuroo got up from his seat and wandered over to the table where the beer pong was set up. On one side was Bokuto, eager to start playing. On the other was Tanaka and Nishinoya.

“Nishinoya? Don’t you work at the Nest?” Kuroo asked as he approached.

“Got the night off,” Nishinoya said, grinning and shooting Kuroo a thumbs up.

“So you decided to spend your night off from drinking… Drinking?” Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

Nishinoya shrugged. “It’s what I’m good at. Now, you gonna join us or what?”

Kuroo gave the setup on the table a sceptical frown. Normally he liked a good game of beer pong at a party, but he couldn’t help the feeling that something was going to go sour tonight. And his feelings were almost always right.

“Come ooonnnn, Kuroo!” Bokuto whined. He was already drunk. Just how much had he had in the two seconds that Kuroo hadn’t been watching him? “It’ll be fun, I promise!”

Kuroo’s frown deepened slightly, but he relented in the end. He really couldn’t say no to Bokuto’s pouty face, as much as he loathed to admit it.

Not twenty minutes later, he and Bokuto lost spectacularly and were officially drunk off their asses. Kuroo could barely see straight, and was laughing at something or other – he couldn’t remember what. They stumbled over to where a group of people were dancing on a makeshift dance floor and joined in for a while. When they decided that they were tired of that, they chatted with another group of people until they were dragged off by Terushima again for their promised shots.

“Dude,” Kuroo slurred after he’d downed his last shot. “I’m going. To die.”

“Nonsense!” Terushima said. “You’re having fun.”

Kuroo giggled. “Yeahh. I am. Your parties are the best, Terushima.”

“Damn straight. You guys up for a Terushima traditional game of spin the bottle in the spare room?”

“Hell yeah!” Bokuto exclaimed, overly excited. Somehow he was even more energetic when he was drunk.

Kuroo let out a snort. “What are we, middle schoolers?”

“Hah, Kuroo, you’re one to talk. You love my games of spin the bottle. Don’t deny it,” Terushima prodded. Kuroo rolled his eyes and was about to retort when Bokuto cut in.

“You scaaared of a little smooching? Scared that you’re a bad kisser?” Bokuto teased.

Kuroo bristled, his competitive side rearing. “I’ll show you a bad kisser!” He grumbled, dragging Bokuto off in the direction of the spare room.

When they got there, there were a few people already gathered around on the floor next to the bed. Bokuto and Kuroo joined the circle, greeting a few people they recognized. One or two more people filtered in, but they only began when Terushima eventually joined.

“Everyone clear on the rules?” He asked, rubbing his hands together. Everyone nodded. “Well, let’s begin.”

He span the bottle, and it landed on a girl with deep, red hair. He grinned, licking his lips, and leaned over to kiss her. It was wet and sloppy, but somehow extremely hot.

“Nice, Teru,” one of his friends hooted. Terushima grinned into the kiss.

It was over in a flash, and then Terushima was sitting back and the girl was reaching for the bottle.

It landed on another girl, one with blonde hair and a cute face. At least half of the guys in the circle jeered. She looked absolutely terrified. Kuroo had to wonder if Terushima had tricked her into this somehow. The red-head smiled and crawled across the circle, planting a soft kiss on the other girl’s lips. There was still tongue, but it seemed somehow gentler than the last kiss. Kuroo thought that maybe the red-head was trying to make the blonde girl feel marginally more comfortable about the situation.

The blonde girl reached for the bottle with a shaking hand and gave it a weak spin. It rolled a little, and then landed on Bokuto. Kuroo tried to push aside the flash of jealousy he felt. The girl leaned forward slowly, and Bokuto met her in the middle. It was a quick kiss, and the girl jerked back afterwards.

Bokuto grinned and reached for the bottle, spinning it maybe a little too hard. After a few, nerve-wracking moments, it stopped. On Kuroo.

Kuroo looked at Bokuto, swallowing audibly. He knew that he was blushing, but he could probably just chalk it up to the alcohol. Bokuto’s grin faltered for a moment, but, brash as ever, he went straight for it. Their mouths clashed messily, awkward and clumsy from both the alcohol and the nerves on Kuroo’s part, but they quickly found their rhythm. Kuroo couldn’t help but feel like, just maybe, their mouths were made for this. He shifted forward a little, subconsciously, and put his hand on the back of Bokuto’s neck. He could have sworn that Bokuto sighed into the kiss, but he wasn’t sure. His heart pounding in his ears made it hard to hear. Their tongues and lips slid together, and Kuroo had to physically stop himself from moaning when Bokuto nibbled softly on his bottom lip.

“Whoa… He’s really into it,” he heard one of the guys in the circle say, and he jerked backwards, nearly falling into the person behind him. The guy snickered. “That’s a bisexual for you, always huge sluts.”

When Kuroo looked at Bokuto, he was pulling a face. Kuroo’s heart dropped. While they were kissing, he’d thought that maybe, just _maybe_ , Bokuto was just as into it as he was. But that face he was pulling… He was grossed out, wasn’t he? He’d realized that Kuroo had been weirdly into it, and now he was disgusted by him. Just like he’d been worried about. Kuroo took a deep breath, and tried his best to regain his composure.

“Hey,” he snapped at the guy. “Just means that I’m at kissing and fucking than you.” Kuroo wasn’t really sure why he said that. It wasn’t like him at all. Maybe it was because he was frustrated. Maybe it was because he was angry. At this whole situation. At Bokuto, for not liking him the way he did. At Terushima, for dragging him here and giving him a taste of what he so desperately wanted, but could never have. He balled his hands into fists on his lap.

The guy reeled, looking a little embarrassed. “Yeah, whatever,” he said, trying to play it off, his ego obviously damaged.

Kuroo stayed for a little longer, trying his best to keep his composure and save face. He kissed three more people; the guy who’d made fun of him, the red-headed girl, and Terushima. They were all arguably good kisses, especially Terushima with his tongue ring, but none of them even came close to comparing with what he’d felt when kissing Bokuto.

Eventually, it was too much. After kissing Terushima, he got up.

“I’m not feeling too hot,” he said. “I’m gonna go.”

“You okay, bro? I can help you get home,” Bokuto offered.

“No, dude, it’s fine. Stay and have fun. I’ll be fine.”

Bokuto nodded, but still looked a little unconvinced. Kuroo just turned and left, before he made an ass of himself. He could already feel his eyes beginning to sting. He found Kenma as quickly as he could.

“Hey, Kenma, I’m gonna go,” he said, his voice beginning to strain a little.

Kenma looked at him for a moment, and then stood up from where he was sitting on the couch. “Let’s go. I was just about to leave, anyway.”

On their way back home, Kuroo began to cry. “We kissed, Kenma. We were playing spin the bottle, and we kissed. I got a little too into it and… Oh, god, he looked so grossed out. What am I gonna do?” He hiccupped.

“I’m sure you two will be able to work it out,” Kenma said, rubbing Kuroo’s arm reassuringly as they walked.

Kuroo shook his head, but didn’t say anything more. He didn’t trust his voice to be able to.

When they got home, Kuroo immediately collapsed into his bed, tears running into his pillow. He wasn’t sure if he was just crying because of how emotional he became when he was drunk, or if it was genuine heartache he felt over Bokuto. Maybe both.

Kenma just perched on the edge of his bed and stroked his hair until he finally stopped crying and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hue, all aboard the angst train, naughty children. Here's were the feels start.  
> Tune in for more dense as shit Kuroo.  
> Thank you all for your encouragement and nice comments!! <3 They are greatly appreciated.
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo overthinks things, as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst :3c

When Kuroo woke up, he ran straight for the bathroom and threw up the entire contents of his stomach from the night before. Which was mostly just cheap alcohol. When he was done, he leaned up and flushed the toilet, and then rested his cheek against the cool porcelain of the seat. He still felt too nauseous to move; if he tried to do anything, he would just throw up more – not that there was much more _to_ throw up. He sat there for a long while, feeling miserable. Perhaps even more miserable than he’d felt when he’d woken up in that jail cell.

But that was probably because while he hadn’t regretted the night in the zoo, he absolutely one hundred percent regretted going to that party. Because now his relationship with Bokuto was probably ruined.

He’d kissed Bokuto. It was because of spin the bottle, but still. He’d kissed Bokuto and gotten way too into it, and now Bokuto was grossed out by him. That expression on his face had made it perfectly clear. He’d looked disgusted with Kuroo. Kuroo had done the exact thing that he’d so desperately been trying to avoid. And now what? What did he have?

He groaned as he was hit with another wave of intense nausea, and he turned his face into the toilet bowl, throwing up bile. When he was done, he staggered to his feet, feeling marginally better. At least, better enough to make it back to his bed and lay there, wallowing, for the rest of the day. He was fairly sure he wasn’t going to throw up anymore. He hoped.

He dropped himself into his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin and curling into a ball.

What was he supposed to do now? He wanted to keep talking with Bokuto like normal, but he wasn’t sure if that was even possible anymore. Would Bokuto _want_ to be friends with him after that? Could Kuroo force himself to be around Bokuto, when Bokuto _knew_ and didn’t want him the same way that Kuroo did? Kuroo had told himself that it had been fine before, that he would be satisfied with just being friends with Bokuto – but it was different now that Bokuto had probably figured it out. He had to have, right?

He’d thought – hoped – that Bokuto had been as into it as he had. That had been a sigh, hadn’t it? But, apparently, Kuroo was mistaken. And not only that, he’d been obvious about wanting Bokuto, too. Everyone had seen it. That one guy had even made a comment about it. Sure, he’d been a biphobic asshole, but still.

If Kuroo wasn’t busy feeling like he was about to die, he would be mortified. Part of him knew that he would have to deal with this situation and his feelings eventually, but all he really wanted to do was run away from his problems forever.

“I can hear you overthinking from here, Kuro,” Kenma said from his bed, yawning. “How are you feeling?”

“Like death,” Kuroo grunted.

“I’m not surprised.”

Kuroo groaned. “I think Terushima secretly wants to kill me. I’m encroaching too much on his whole, cool-alternative-guy vibe and he feels threatened. That can be the only explanation as to why he would give me so many mixed shots.”

“And what about Bokuto?”

“He obviously wants to kill him by extension. You know, because he’s my friend. He feeds off my cool. Because we’re so close. Were?”

Kenma sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

Kuroo really didn’t want to have this conversation right now. He wasn’t ready to yet function like an ordinary human being with simple, daily tasks let alone open up this shitstorm. He might have been overthinking it, as Kenma had pointed out, but having a conversation about it made it real somehow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he settled for.

“Kuro.” Though Kuroo wasn’t looking at him, he could almost see the exasperated expression on Kenma’s face in his head. “You’re going to have to talk about this sooner or later.”

“I know,” Kuroo sighed. “I know. I feel like I fucked up.”

“You didn’t fuck up. You were playing a game.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t know. Bokuto probably knows, now. And how he looked, after… I don’t know what to make of it other than him being grossed out by me. What am I supposed to make of it?” He lamented.

“I can’t say. I wasn’t there.”

Kuroo wanted to get angry. He wanted to lash out, to say _no, you weren’t_. He wanted to be angry at Kenma for not being there, when he needed him to be – even if he hadn’t known it at the time.  But he couldn’t. It wasn’t Kenma’s fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. And that, maybe, was why Kuroo wanted to be angry. He wanted to direct his frustration and anger and hurt _somewhere_ – anywhere. It was bubbling up inside him, almost unbearably so. He felt restless.

So, he got up, ignoring how unsteady he was on his feet, how there was a vague nausea still settled in the pit of his stomach. He changed out of his clothes from the night before and pulled on running clothes and shoes, zipping up a jacket over his shirt. Kenma was watching him all the while, a deep frown settled on his face.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m going for a run,” Kuroo said, still not looking at his friend. “I need to get out of here.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You haven’t eaten today, and you just threw up,” Kenma pointed out.

Kuroo shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s fine. I just. I need some air.”

He left before Kenma could say anything more; he knew that if he stayed any longer, Kenma would find a way to change his mind, to convince him that running while incredibly hungover was not, in fact, a good idea. Kenma was probably right, as always, but Kuroo didn’t really care right now. He needed the burn of physical strain in his muscles, the crisp air rushing against his face, the tight breathlessness in his chest. He needed to not think.

He passed Bokuto in the hallway as he made his way downstairs, but pretended not to see him. He just kept his eyes fixed on the floor, ignoring Bokuto’s calls. Maybe it seemed rude, but Kuroo could just chalk it up to being tired and focused if pressed.

He ran, fast and hard, trying his best to clear his thoughts of anything and everything that didn’t centre on his next step. He didn’t last very long, not that he thought he would. He grew dizzy quickly, and wasn’t even a block away when he tripped over his own feet and tried his best not to throw up in the bushes. Luckily, no one was around to see him wallowing in his own misery.

When the nausea subsided, he picked himself off the ground and slinked back to the dorm. It had worked, to an extent. His muscles burned, his face was fresh and cool, and he felt just out of breath. He’d managed to forget about everything else for a short while. But as soon as his breath returned and his legs relaxed, he could only think of Bokuto.

 

* * *

 

The rest of his week wasn’t much better. His hangover was gone by the late afternoon of that first day, but without the overwhelming urge to empty the contents of his stomach there was a lot of room in his head to think about things he’d rather not think about – even more so than before. He wasn’t sure how it was possible for him to overthink things more than he had been, but, apparently, it was.

He managed to push aside thoughts of Bokuto somewhat when he buried himself in his studies and assignments, but they were always there, simmering in the back of his head. He had two tests that week, and four assignments due – which he had, of course, left to the last minute. Because that’s what he did.

He ignored Bokuto’s texts and calls all the while, shoved headphones on when Bokuto knocked at his door, and blamed it on how busy he was. He just didn’t have time to be social with all the work he had to do for his classes. He barely had time for Kenma, his own roommate, as it was. At least, that’s what he told himself.

Somewhere, deep down, he knew that the part of him that wanted to run away had won out from the rational part of his brain – even if he didn’t want to admit it. He knew that Kenma knew as well. He knew from the looks Kenma gave him every time his phone buzzed and he let it be, every time Bokuto came up in conversation and Kuroo quickly changed the subject. Even if Kenma didn’t say anything, Kuroo knew that he knew. Kuroo also knew that Kenma was just giving him the benefit of the doubt for the time being – a period of grace, as it were – and that his silence wouldn’t last forever. If Kuroo dug his hole too deeply, Kenma would eventually say something – he’d eventually lecture Kuroo and tell him to get his shit together, because Kuroo is an adult and adults don’t act like this.

But, until that happened, Kuroo would happily continue avoiding his problems and pouring as much of his focus as he could into his work and running.

He kept his earphones in as much as possible when he left his room to go for a run or head to class, just in case Bokuto saw him and tried to call out to him. Part of him knew that this was a really shitty thing to do, that he was probably hurting Bokuto as much as he’d been hurt – if Bokuto was still wanting him around after all that. He tried his best to ignore that part, to come up with excuses for himself.

He ran out of excuses when Bokuto finally cornered him in the hallway outside of his room.

He was had his earphones in his ears, as usual, as he scratched around in his backpack for his keys. He let out a muttered “finally” when his fingers closed around the cool metal. He pulled the keys from his bag and fiddled for the right one. He was just about to fit it into the lock when someone slapped him at full force on the back. He yelped in fright, dropping both his keys and his bag. If he jumped a little, he was too proud to admit it. He yanked his earphones out of his ears and whirled around to yell at whatever jackass had done that, but stopped short when he came face to face with the exact person he’d been avoiding.

“What the fuck, bro?” He mumbled, looking away as he bent to pick up his things.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” was all that Bokuto said, none of his usual boisterous vigour.

Kuroo sighed as he unlocked his door. If they were really doing this, they might as well at least do it in the comfort of Kuroo’s apartment. He gestured for Bokuto to follow him inside as he dumped his stuff by the entryway. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve been busy. College is a bitch,” Kuroo half-lied, dropping himself onto one end of the couch.

“Are you sure?” Bokuto asked, genuinely sounding concerned, as he sat at the other end.

Kuroo paused for a moment, pursing his lips into a thin line. He felt on edge, anxiety buzzing under his skin, but he forced himself to sit still, to talk to the man before him. If he ran away now, there would be no going back. “I’m sure. I’ve just had a ton of tests and assignments this week,” he said. “Balancing that with running’s been pretty hard.”

Bokuto smiled, but it wasn’t his usual, massive grin. It was a little strained, a little hurt. Kuroo knew that he didn’t believe him completely. But that wasn’t Kuroo’s problem, now was it? That’s what he told himself, at least. “That’s good to hear, I guess,” he said. “I was worried you were avoiding me because of… You know…”

Kuroo froze, swallowing. He didn’t want to talk about this. He might have known that Bokuto didn’t want him, but he didn’t want to get rejected like this, either. “Because of what?” He asked, playing innocent. He’d had a ton to drink that night. It wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that he’d forgotten.

Bokuto looked away for a moment. “Oh, never mind. If you say you haven’t been avoiding me it’s not important. So, we’re good, right?” Bokuto held an expectant fist out.

“Yeah, man, of course we’re good,” Kuroo said, plastering the best smile he could on his face. He held his own fist out, lightly bumping it against Bokuto’s. Bokuto grinned, wide and bright, and Kuroo’s own smile became a little more real.

They stayed like that for a while, chatting and laughing like they used to. It was nice, on the surface, but Kuroo still felt a vague hurt just underneath.

He just hoped that he could keep up the charade.

Friends was better than nothing, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so short! Had kind of a tough time writing this one.  
> We're about half way to the end though! I'm having a lot of fun writing this, I guess I'll just have to do more Bokuroo afterwards ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> All your lovely comments and kudos are so very appreciated, thank you all very much! <3  
> As usual, you can find me at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr~


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa tricks Kuroo and Bokuto into sitting alone together in the back row at the movies. Afterwards, they all go to the Nest and get drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've updated the tags according to a few things in this chapter!

Kuroo sat at one of the lunch tables outside of the cafeteria feeling sorry for himself. He shovelled bland food into his mouth as he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the grey, unmoving clouds in the sky, notes strewn across his table long since forgotten. He chewed lazily, trying to focus on details in the clouds, spots that were slightly darker or lumpier than others – trying not to think. He’d spent way too much time thinking over the last few days. It was becoming exhausting, but Kuroo couldn’t seem to stop himself. Kenma didn’t even need to point it out at this point, he knew he had a problem. If he could just get over Bokuto, that’d be great.

He hadn’t spoken to Bokuto since that day he’d cornered him outside of his apartment, but things seemed less strained between them than they had been before – though they weren’t completely back to normal, either. Kuroo didn’t think they would be until he found a way to make his feelings stop. He’d, unfortunately, fallen hard and fast, so it was much easier said than done.

He was just shoving another chip into his mouth when one of the chairs at his table scraped loudly across the floor. Kuroo jumped in fright, bolting upright. His chip got caught in his throat and he coughed, hitting a hand against his chest as he fought to swallow. He managed after a few seconds, and then turned to look at the person who was now sitting at his table, desperately trying to regain his composure.

It was Oikawa, looking incredibly pleased with myself. “Are you alright there, Kuroo?” He asked, but Kuroo knew that he wasn’t actually all that concerned. He saw the amused twinkle in his eye.

“I’m fine,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t I just drop in on my sulking friend?” Oikawa smiled innocently, resting his chin on his hands as he watched Kuroo for some sort of reaction. Kuroo was determined not to give him one.

“You usually have some sort of ulterior motive.” Kuroo shrugged. “We’ve been friends long enough that I’ve figured out at least _some_ things about you.”

Oikawa’s smile just widened. “I suppose. But you’re still a pretty dense guy,” he teased. “Though today isn’t one of the days where I want something. I’m genuinely worried about you. I heard you and Bokuto kissed on the night of the party.”

Kuroo grimaced and shoved a handful of chips into his mouth, chewing as slowly as possible. He watched Oikawa as he did, getting at least a little satisfaction out of how annoyed he looked at his delay in response. If there was one thing Kuroo was good at, it was avoiding things. At least, for a little while. “We did,” he said, once his mouthful of chips was done. “But it was because of Terushima’s stupid game of spin the bottle.”

Oikawa looked at him for a moment, and then his expression softened, his smile becoming a little sad. “But still. I know you like him.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “You do? Did Kenma say something?”

Oikawa chuckled. “He did, but he didn’t have to. I could see it, practically from when you guys first met.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’re really not as subtle as you’d like to think,” he said. “In fact, you’re quite the opposite. I think the only one who hasn’t figured it out yet is Bokuto himself.”

“He’s probably figured it out by now. He knows I’m bisexual, and… I got way too into that kiss. Stupidly.” Kuroo sighed dejectedly.

“I think you’re giving the dear boy too much credit. He’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, if you ask me,” Oikawa snorted, stealing one of Kuroo’s chips. “Case and point: the fact that he broke into a zoo.”

“I did that, too.”

“Yes, but you were drunk. Everyone knows it doesn’t take much convincing to get you to do anything when you’re drunk,” he pointed out. “Like, remember that time we got you to-”

“I’d rather not,” Kuroo groaned. “I don’t need _another_ thing to add to my list to overthink. Besides, none of this matters. Bokuto’s, like, as straight as an arrow. Or something.”

Oikawa hummed. “If you say so.”

Kuroo’s eyebrows knitted into a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The brunette shrugged. “You know him better than I do. If you think it’s a lost cause, though, we need to get you laid.”

“I guess.”

“What do you mean you guess?” Oikawa gasped, putting a hand to his chest and looking genuinely affronted. “I, Oikawa Tooru, am offering to be your _wingman_ and all you can say is ‘you guess’?” Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh, which just earned him an even more offended look. “I will have you know that my wingman skills are top notch, Kuroo Tetsurou. Top notch.”

“Fine, fine,” he sighed despite the grin on his face. Sometimes Oikawa’s energy was just what Kuroo needed when he was feeling down. “The Nest tonight, then?”

“Oh, you guys are going to the Nest?” A voice asked from behind Kuroo, causing him to jump a little. He turned around to see Bokuto and Akaashi approaching, just a short distance away. “I wanna come! We should all go see a movie beforehand as well!”

Kuroo couldn’t help the feeling of endearment that washed over him as he watched Bokuto seat himself at their table, followed closely behind by Akaashi.

“Bokuto, you can’t just drop in on other people’s plans like that,” Akaashi sighed. “What if this was a date?”

Bokuto snorted. “Nah, dude. Oikawa and Iwaizumi are banging. I’ve seen Iwaizumi, he’s scary. If Oikawa even _thought_ about cheating on him, he’d be dead meat.”

Oikawa turned an almost beetroot red. Kuroo couldn’t help but feel proud of Bokuto for getting Oikawa to blush like that. “How did you know we’re dating?” He asked.

Kuroo levelled him with a look. “Bro.”

Bokuto mirrored his look. “Dude.”

Oikawa raised his hands up defensively. “Alright, alright. I get it. We’re not as subtle as we think,” he sighed. “I guess we have that much in common, Kuroo.”

Bokuto perked up a little. “Hmm? What’s he not being subtle about?”

Akaashi sighed. “Bokuto, you’re dense as a brick. Even if they told you, you still probably wouldn’t understand.”

“What? That’s mean, Akaashi!” Bokuto complained, wildly mispronouncing Akaashi’s name (as he did when he was upset).

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Anyway. What movie did you have in mind, Bokuto?”

“Something cool!” Bokuto exclaimed.

“Very helpful.”

“Ugh, fine. Let me think,” he grumbled, pausing for a few seconds. “What about the latest Marvel movie?”

“Hell yeah,” Kuroo grinned, leaning forward in his seat. “I’ve been wanting to see it for ages!”

“Awesome, dude!” Bokuto returned his grin. “What about you guys?”

“You can bring your boyfriend,” Kuroo said to Oikawa.

Oikawa shrugged. “Sure, I’m game. You should also invite Kenma and Shrimpy.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Shrimpy?”

“You know, Kenma’s boyfriend! Because he’s so small. Smaller than Kenma, even.”

Kuroo considered, humming. “You’re right, the nickname does fit. I’m gonna start calling him that.” He got out his phone and immediately started texting Kenma.

**Kuroo:** Hey! We’re going to movies tonight w Bokuto, Akaashi, Oikawa  & his bf. Bring Shrimpy.

He could hear Akaashi sighing as he tapped out the message. “Someone’s going to have to look after your asses after you have too many drinks. Guess it might as well be me.”

“Akaashi, you’re the best!” Bokuto said, ruffling Akaashi’s hair. He just sighed again.

Kuroo snickered when a response came a few seconds later that just said, ‘Shrimpy?’

 

* * *

 

Kenma and Hinata agreed on their choice of movie with little resistance; Hinata, in fact, seemed incredibly excited, going so far as to steal Kenma’s phone and send Kuroo a ‘ _Gwaaah! Awesome!!!!!’_ Kuroo had burst out laughing at that. If Hinata was one thing, it was hilariously adorable.

They all decided to meet at the theatre after classes for the eight o’clock show; none of them had any late tests or practices, so there was no point in going too late. Besides, if they went to a later show, they wouldn’t be able to get a head-start on their drinking.

Kuroo stood in the foyer of the movie theatre, holding the tickets he’d collected that they’d paid for online. He lounged against one of the walls that faced the entrance; all of the couches had already been taken by other movie-goers that had arrived earlier. He’d been waiting for about ten minutes already and was getting a little antsy. The movie was starting in five minutes, and none of the others had arrived yet. Seriously, what was taking them so long?

Oikawa had booked and paid for all the tickets, and everyone was going to pay for one drink for him tonight in exchange. It was a good thing that Oikawa had a decent alcohol tolerance, or Kuroo would have said that tonight was the night he died.

He waited for about another minute before Bokuto arrived.

“Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo!” He said, grinning and waving as he approached. Kuroo gave him a smile and hugged him in greeting.

“How are you, bro?” Kuroo asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Like he wasn’t low-key avoiding him himself. He wasn’t actively doing it, but he’d be lying to himself if he said that he didn’t want at least a little bit of space from Bokuto’s boisterous energy levels while he tried to get over his feelings for him.

“Good, man! Super excited for this movie,” Bokuto said. “Where’s everyone else? I was worried I was gonna be late.”

Kuroo shrugged. “Not here yet, I suppose.”

As if on cue, Oikawa swept into the theatre alongside Iwaizumi. “Yoohoo, did you two miss me?” He sang. As he stopped in front of Kuroo, he plucked the tickets out of his hands, save for two. “I’ll take those. Since I’m paying, I’ll be the one distributing the tickets. Those two are for you and Bokuto.”

Kuroo quirked an eyebrow, failing to see the purpose of this. “Right. Okay.” He turned to Iwaizumi. “How are you doing, Iwaizumi? Not too sick of this loser yet, I hope?”

Iwaizumi huffed out a laugh, ignoring the plaintive cry of protest from Oikawa. “I’m alright. I’ve been sick of him since middle school, actually.”

“That’s so mean!” Oikawa pouted, sticking his bottom lip out.

“Wow, you and Bokuto are basically the same person,” Kuroo remarked.

“Are not!” Bokuto huffed. “I’m way cooler than this guy. And my muscles are way better.” To prove his point, he started flexing his biceps. Kuroo had to agree, Bokuto’s muscles were pretty damn nice. Spectacular, even.

He must have been nodding without realizing it, because Oikawa sniffed irritably. “Of course _you’d_ think that, Kuroo.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Kuroo asked, feigning innocence.

Oikawa narrowed his eyes at him. “You know what it means.”

“What?” Bokuto asked, looking between them. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”

Oikawa was just about to open his mouth to say something and Kuroo was just about to dive-tackle him to the ground to shut him up, when Hinata burst into the room, followed closely behind by Kenma and Akaashi.

“Oh, good, everyone’s here!” Kuroo said, pointedly diverting the topic of their conversation. “Let’s get popcorn and then let’s go. We’re already,” Kuroo paused, checking his watch, “two minutes late.”

Bokuto pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly unhappy that he didn’t get the answers he wanted. Though he didn’t say anything, there was a mischievous glint in Oikawa’s eyes. Kuroo didn’t like it.

As they stood in line for popcorn and drinks, Hinata was babbling about how much he was looking forward to seeing the movie. He had that starry-eyed look that he got whenever he was excited about something. Kenma smiled indulgently at him as he spoke, and the two of them had their fingers laced together. Kuroo resisted the urge to ruffle Kenma’s hair and go on about how happy he was for them. It was a little weird, especially since they were in public.

They got their refreshments quickly enough, and then filed into the theatre. Kuroo and Bokuto were about to follow the rest of the group into a row of seats, when Oikawa stopped them.

“Oh, no, did I forget to mention it?” Oikawa mock-gasped.

“Mention what?” Kuroo asked, eyebrows knitting into a frown. He didn’t know where this was going, but it couldn’t be good.

“I wasn’t able to get us all seats next to each other,” he said, sighing. “The cinema’s so full. It _is_ a Friday. You two will have to sit by yourselves, at the back.”

Kuroo paused for a moment, clenching his jaw. He looked to Iwaizumi for help. Iwaizumi usually put Oikawa in his place. But no, Iwaizumi didn’t look irritated this time. He just looked amused. Kuroo restrained himself from sighing or groaning, because that would most definitely give him away or upset Bokuto. Or both. “Fine,” he said eventually. “Try not to wither away too much without my presence.” Kuroo turned and made his way to the back row alongside Bokuto.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be just fine. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t back there,” he called after him. That must have finally crossed the line with Iwaizumi, because there was a _thwack_ followed by an “Ow! Mean!”

Kuroo cast his gaze downwards in an attempt to hide his blush. He would never admit it to him, but Oikawa’s words had put certain _images_ in his head. The precise images that he’d been trying to get rid of. He filed into the back row and settled into his seat, Bokuto sitting next to him.

They were silent for a little while as they watched the pre-movie trailers that were still playing on the screen. It was only when the actual movie started playing that Bokuto seemed to forget about his unanswered question.

When one of the actors came on-screen, he started hitting Kuroo’s arm repeatedly.

“Ow! Dude, what?” Kuroo hissed.

“It’s that… That guy! He’s from, uh…. I don’t remember. But I love that guy!” He whispered excitedly.

Kuroo rolled his eyes and gave Bokuto an indulgent smile. “Right, yeah, okay. The guy from the thing.”

Bokuto huffed, but Kuroo could see the smile on his face, even in the dark.

Half way through the movie, Bokuto shifted ever so slightly. Kuroo stiffened a little when their shoulders and arms were pressed flush together. Even later into the movie, Kuroo felt a weight fall into his shoulder, and spiked hair tickling his neck and chin. He stiffened further, unsure of what to do. Was Bokuto asleep? Did he do this on purpose? Was it just a friendly gesture? Kuroo’s mind reeled for answers. He couldn’t concentrate on the rest of the movie, and by the time the credits rolled, he still didn’t have any. He shifted away from Bokuto and stood. Bokuto made a noise of dissatisfaction.

“Where are you going?” He asked, looking a little confused. “You’ll miss the after-credits scene.”

“Sorry, dude, but I’ve been holding in the need to pee, like, this entire time,” he lied. Well, not entirely. He did need to pee, but it wasn’t the reason he was missing out on the extra scenes. Usually, he stuck around for them, like the loyal fan that he was.

Bokuto wrinkled his nose. “Ouch, dude. Alright, go, but I’m making you watch them on YouTube later,” he said.

Kuroo flashed him another apologetic smile before leaving – definitely _not_ fleeing. He quickly made his way to the bathroom, pushing through the door before any of his friends could ambush him. He knew that they were watching, while the credits were playing. But why? Why had Oikawa set them up to sit next to each other? Oikawa could play it off all he wanted, but Kuroo knew better. And why had Bokuto leant against his shoulder? Bokuto was definitely a touchy guy, but he’d never been _that_ touchy before… Had he? Kuroo frowned. It was possible. He wasn’t sure.

Well, whatever. Oikawa had better be a damn good wingman after that.

When he was done peeing, he meandered back into the foyer. The credits, or the extra scenes, were probably still playing, so he had a few minutes to kill. He didn’t really feel like going back into the theatre. He figured that he’d just wait there. He plopped himself down onto one of the couches and sat back, staring at the geometric patterns on the ceiling.

It wasn’t long before the last of the movie-goers, the ones that had hung back for the _second_ post-credits scene, trickled out of the cinema. Bokuto was the first to come out, out of his friends, since he had been at the back.

“Dude!” He exclaimed when his eyes fell on Kuroo. “How awesome was that?”

Kuroo tried his best to grin in return. “It was pretty awesome, bro. And the special effects were _amazing_.”

Bokuto’s grin widened, eyes almost glittering. “That final fight scene, though! I was on the edge of my seat! And those after-credits scenes.” He let out a low whistle. “You are most _definitely_ watching those on YouTube tonight.”

“We’re going to the Nest after this, don’t you remember?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow, as he stood up.

“Oh yeah. Well, tomorrow then! I’ll make sure of it.”

“Sure, Bo.”

A moment later, the rest of their friends came out. Oikawa was at the head. Close behind him was Iwaizumi, who was chatting to Akaashi. Bonding over how much of a headache their childhood friends were, probably. Although, in Iwaizumi’s case it was closer to childhood friend-turned-lover. At the very back were Hinata and Kenma, holding hands and looking very pleased with life. Lucky them.

“Soo,” Oikawa drawled. “How’d you guys like that?”

“It was so cool! I am totally coming to see the next one. I’m excited already!” Bokuto said, practically vibrating with energy.

Kuroo smiled as well. “It was pretty awesome.”

Oikawa frowned for a moment, looking like he was trying to figure something out, before his grin came back in full force. “Right, well, let’s get a move on, shall we? Drinking awaits!”

Now _that_ Kuroo could get on board with. Without any further delay, they all left for the Nest.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo was on his fourth drink, lining up for his second shot with Bokuto, and was well on his way to being drunk. He wasn’t completely there _yet_ , but he was definitely just that side of tipsy. He and Bokuto watched eagerly as Nishinoya filled four shot glasses with Tequila. The rational part of his brain was saying ‘ _ugh, Tequila, again? Are you stupid?’_ but he told that part of his brain to sit down and be quiet. He was getting his drink on. One of the shots was for Bokuto, one for Kuroo, one was for Oikawa, and one was for Nishinoya himself.

When the glasses were filled, they each picked one up carefully, clinking them together and then downing the contents. Kuroo’s throat burned, just a little, as he slammed the glass back onto the bar counter. He wasn’t sure if he was getting used to the taste and feel of Tequila, or if there was just too much alcohol in his system to care all that much.

Bokuto grinned widely and set down his shot glass, letting out a satisfied sigh. “That’s good shit!” He said.

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “No it’s not. It’s terrible.”

“Well fine. Maybe I’ll just stop giving it to you, then,” Bokuto huffed.

Kuroo whined, despite himself, and grabbed onto Bokuto’s shoulders. “Nooo! You can’t! Who else will get me drunk enough to forget my woes and do stupid shit?”

“No one, that’s who. And you’d better not forget it.”

“I won’t, you beautiful sunshine child,” Kuroo said. Against his better judgement, he side-hugged Bokuto and began to stroke his hair with one hand. “I won’t.”

Bokuto sniffed. “Good.”

Oikawa huffed out a loud sigh. “Unless you two are wanting to get a room, I’d like to go dance. And since Iwa-chan hates dancing, you two will have to keep my company.

Bokuto perked up. “Dancing!” He exclaimed. “I love dancing! Let’s go dance!”

Oikawa looked pleased at this, and headed for the dancefloor. Bokuto wriggled out of Kuroo’s grip and followed, pulling Kuroo with him by his sleeve.

The dancefloor was pretty packed; not only was it just that time of night, but the Nest was currently running a whole bunch of specials. For college students, that was basically Nirvana. They pushed their way into the crowd, following behind Oikawa. Eventually, they found a small spot void enough of people that they could claim, and began to dance.

Kuroo wasn’t familiar with the song that was currently playing, but it didn’t matter. That last shot of tequila was beginning to hit him, so he found that he really didn’t care. He took another swig of his drink and moved along to the music, losing himself in the beat.

At some point he must have drifted closer to Bokuto, because they were practically dancing _together_ together. He vaguely registered Oikawa huffing in disgust and walking away, but all of his focus was on Bokuto. The beads of sweat dripping down his brow. The way his muscles clenched and unclenched each time he moved. The way his lips were just slightly parted, sucking in breath. In that moment, Kuroo felt the overwhelming urge to _kiss_ , to _take_ , to _ravish_ Bokuto. He stopped. He panicked. No, he couldn’t do this. Not now. He’d already fucked up once, he couldn’t do it again.

“Dude, are you okay?” He heard Bokuto asking.

Kuroo forced himself to nod. “Yeah. I just. Feel a little sick,” he lied, and pushed his way out of the crowd.

He made a beeline for the bathroom, sticking with his lie. He pushed through the door and walked to the sink, turning on the faucet and splashing some cold water on his face. “Get it together,” he told his reflection. If history was any indication, he would probably not be getting it together anytime soon.

When he felt sufficiently calm, albeit still pretty drunk, he left the bathroom. When he emerged, Bokuto wasn’t on the dancefloor anymore. He glanced around the room and found him sitting on a couch, chatting to Akaashi, Oikawa, and Iwaizumi. He wasn’t sure where Hinata and Kenma were.

He was just about to go ask when he smacked shoulders with someone. He stumbled a little, but ultimately kept his balance. He turned and was about to yell at the asshole, when he realized who it was.

“Whoa- Oh, hey there, Kuroo,” Terushima greeted, a sly grin spreading across his face. “How are you, man?”

“I’m… Good, I guess,” he said. “A little drunk.”

Terushima laughed. “I can see that. It’s fine, though. I’m a little drunk, too. How’s Bokuto?”

Kuroo frowned. Why was he asking him that? “Why are you asking me that?” He said, and Terushima laughed. “He’s fine, I suppose. He’s… Somewhere.”

“So I guess that response means you two aren’t together?” Terushima asked, sidling a little closer to Kuroo.

Oh. _Oh_. So that’s what he wanted. Though his heart gave a distant pang for Bokuto, his drunk brain was able to ignore it. And he had to say, he liked where this was going.

“Hmm, why would you think that?” He asked, inching forward in return.

Terushima shrugged. “Well, the way you two kissed and… You looked pretty into it when you were dancing just now.”

Kuroo snorted. “It’s completely one-sided. Bokuto’s straight.”

Terushima raised his eyebrows and brought a hand up, trailing his fingers lightly along Kuroo’s shoulder and neck before eventually coming to rest on his jaw. “So does that mean… I can kiss you?” He whispered, his face now merely centimetres away from Kuroo’s. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. This can be totally casual.”

The corners of Kuroo’s mouth pulled up into a smile. “Oh? I think that’s an awesome idea,” he whispered back. “Genius, really.”

Terushima’s grin widened marginally before he pressed their lips together. There was no tentative stage, no question or hesitation – just straight into the wet and dirty. Terushima knew what he was doing. He licked into Kuroo’s mouth, and Kuroo let him, sliding their tongues together. Terushima nibbled on his bottom lip, and Kuroo let himself moan. They pressed their bodies together, every inch of themselves that they could, and let their hands roam all over. Kuroo let his hands settle in Terushima’s hair, one gripping the long part tightly, while the other grazed against the undercut. Terushima gripped Kuroo’s hips tightly, and Kuroo relished at the pressure.

_This_ is what he’d been wanting, all along. From Bokuto.

No. No, this was not the time to be thinking of Bokuto. This was the one-night stand that would get him over his stupid crush. (It wasn’t).

It wasn’t long before they were both whining into each other’s mouths, both desperately wanting more.

Terushima broke away first, wicked grin on his face. Kuroo wanted to complain at the lack of kissing, but paused when Terushima gripped his hand.

“Come on,” Terushima said, and led him away – back towards the bathroom.

“Wha-? Where?” Kuroo tried.

“I really want this. Right now,” Terushima near growled in Kuroo’s ear as he shut the two of them into one of the stalls. Kuroo couldn’t supress his shiver.

Terushima smiled again as he began unbuttoning both his and Kuroo’s jeans with precision. He pressed kisses and sucked marks onto Kuroo’s neck, and all Kuroo could do was whine and moan obscenely at the attention. It wasn’t long before Terushima was reaching into Kuroo’s boxers, pulling out his dick. Kuroo’s breath hitched as Terushima lined their dicks up next to each other, wrapping his hand around both of them and stroking them up and down.

Kuroo gasped and moaned, and eventually shoved his face into the crook of Terushima’s neck, trying to quieten himself. As the pleasure built up within him, he began to suck marks of his own on Terushima’s neck, and, as the pleasure grew greater, bit down. Terushima gasped when he did – apparently, he liked it.

Terushima jerked them off with quick, firm strokes. Kuroo gripped Terushima’s shoulders, fingers digging into them. The pleasure built up within Kuroo’s abdomen, more and more until Kuroo couldn’t take it any longer and he was coming into Terushima’s hand with a long, loud groan, the skin of Terushima’s shoulder still in between his teeth. Terushima stroked him through it, coming soon after.

They both went about tucking themselves away and wiping any stray come off of themselves. A small, satisfied smile lay on Kuroo’s lips. He felt marginally better than before. Marginally. When they were tidy, Terushima leaned in close to Kuroo.

“Want to come back to my place for round two?” He asked, nibbling at Kuroo’s ear.

“Hell yes,” Kuroo said.

Terushima grinned and led him out of the bathroom. They made their way through the crowds of people in the club, towards the exit. As they passed the cluster of chairs at which his friends where sitting, he waved to them, indicating that he was leaving with Terushima. He knew that his hair was more tousled than it usually was, and that his cheeks and lips were probably very red, but he couldn’t find it in him to care right at that moment. Oikawa gave him a confused look, before a thumbs up and a wink. The rest just waved in return. Bokuto, however… He waved, but he looked oddly – was dejected the right word? He wasn’t sure. There was a fleeting look of hurt in his eyes before he put on a grin and gave Kuroo a thumbs up, but he couldn’t place it.

He didn’t have time to contemplate it however, as Terushima pulled him out of the club by his hand. As the cool night air hit his face, he did his best to put Bokuto out of his mind, and focus solely on the fun that he was about to have with Terushima.

It didn’t work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew... That was longer than anticipated. This fic is getting out of hand *nervous laughter*  
> I hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> As always, come find me on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo sees Bokuto with someone unexpected and tries to run off his feelings, unsuccessfully. Then, Oikawa hosts a movie night at his place.

Kuroo didn’t see Bokuto for two weeks after his night with Terushima, but he couldn’t get the expression on his face out of his head – that fleeting look of hurt in his eyes. What did it mean? Kuroo wracked his brain, but couldn’t come up with an answer no matter how hard he tried.

A part of him wanted to ask Bokuto, ask him what he’d done wrong, but he couldn’t. Not because he was avoiding his problems as usual, but because he just hadn’t _seen_ Bokuto. At all. Hell, Bokuto had barely answered any of his texts. It was almost as if _Bokuto_ was the one that was avoiding _him_ now. But why? What reason did he have? Had Kuroo really done something wrong? He just couldn’t figure it out at all.

The morning after, when Kuroo had woken up sticky and smelling like sex, he’d sent Bokuto a text asking him if he’d gotten home okay – because despite his desire to get away from his romantic feelings for him, he still really cared about the guy. He hadn’t received a response. A vague sense of worry and guilt over having left Bokuto, even though he had been with their other friends, had settled into the pit of his stomach and he’d left Terushima’s in a hurry. It was only when he’d gotten home and Kenma had assured him that Bokuto was okay that he’d settled down, just slightly.

Now, a full two weeks later, he still felt that sense of worry and guilt at the possibility that he’d done something wrong – coupled with a deep sense of dread at the fact that his parents would be in town this upcoming weekend. He’d hooked up with Terushima again since then, and he knew his parents wouldn’t approve.

He knew how it would go – an awkward, strained lunch or dinner where one of them would make some shitty remark about his sexuality, and either he would snap back and it would turn into a huge argument, or he would stay quiet and they would keep doing it until he exploded or left. Or both. Then they would all act like nothing happened and pretend to be the ‘perfect family’. He was sick and tired of it, quite frankly.

He sighed and rolled out of bed, trying to push aside his anxieties and focus on what he had to do today. It was a Saturday, so there wasn’t _too_ much to do – apart from his plans with Oikawa and the others this evening. He didn’t have any classes or tests to distract him. But he did need to run – he’d slacked off a little this last week – and he needed to do some research for an assignment that was due next week, as well as some studying for a test.

Right, so he’d go to the library. That was a start. He could bury himself in books for at least half the day, and then he’d go for a run in the afternoon. After that, he wasn’t sure. He could play some video games with Kenma, or just watch TV. Okay. He had a plan of action. If Bokuto didn’t want to see him, that was fine. He could deal.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled sharply, mentally preparing himself for the day. He pulled clothes out of his cupboard, changing quickly and quietly. He pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt, and then put a pair of boots and a jacket on top. He wrapped a red scarf around his neck and hoisted his bag on his back before pocketing his phone and making his way to the door, sparing one last glance at Kenma, who was still fast asleep.

Sighing one last time, he left the room. As he made his way down the stairs, he checked the time on his phone. 10:49 AM. It was pretty early for him to be up and about, but hey. It happened sometimes, he guessed. At least he was being productive.

A familiar laugh stopped him in his tracks as he reached the second floor. It was loud, overzealous, and happy; definitely Bokuto. He hadn’t heard that laugh in what felt like forever. Hearing it was both like coming home and being slapped in the face at the same time. He heard another voice, and then that laugh again – closer this time. When he turned to look, it was like a punch in a gut.

There was Bokuto, looking as happy as ever. He was holding hands with someone, pressing up against their side. And the person he was holding hands with was a guy. Bokuto was touchy, but this was another thing entirely. The guy said something, but Kuroo couldn’t hear what – his ears were ringing. Boktuo smiled and leaned up, pressing a kiss to the guy’s cheek. Shit. No. This was wrong. This couldn’t-

Bokuto seemed to notice him staring, because his eyes fell on Kuroo. There was a flash of _something_ in his expression, and then he was smiling again. “Hey, Kuroo! How-”

Kuroo didn’t hear the rest of that sentence, because he was walking again. Walking _fast_. Before he knew it, he was out of the doors, and then he was running. Literally running away from his problems. He ran for about a minute before he slowed to a walk again. Bokuto wouldn’t follow him, not when he was with his… _Boyfriend_.

No, he wasn’t thinking about this. He refused. Not today. Today was a day for focusing on his academics and his running and his awesome friendship with Kenma. Not for thinking about Bokuto. He wasn’t going to think about Bokuto anymore. At least not for now.

He set a brisk pace for the rest of the walk to the library. He got there in a matter of minutes, and the cool air on his face helped him to calm down some.

When he got there, Sugawara was on duty again. Sugawara flashed him a kind smile, which he returned before making his way to one of the empty tables and dumping his bag. He wandered around the library, collecting the books he needed for research section by section. After a few minutes, when he’d found five books that he needed, he took his books back to his table and settled in.

He pulled out his notebook and a pen, opening the notebook and the top book on the pile that he’d collected. He started to read through the textbook, scribbling notes as he went. His chest tightened and his stomach twisted, but he resolved to ignore it. He continued to scribble notes. He wouldn’t stop, not until he was done.

He didn’t stop. Not even when tears began to drop onto the page and make the ink run.

 

* * *

 

When Kuroo couldn’t force himself to study any longer, he went home to change into his running gear.

He’d researched and then studied for a good few hours, so he was proud of his productivity. Sugawara had noticed him crying, however, and had forced him to blow his nose and wipe his eyes. When he’d asked what was wrong, Kuroo had insisted it was allergies. Sugawara hadn’t looked convinced, but hadn’t pressed the issue any further. Still, he’d managed to focus and finish quite a big portion of his research project and what he needed to study for his test. It was a productive day.

Even if his productivity was motivated by less pleasant things.

Less pleasant things like Bokuto having a boyfriend. Like the fact that, apparently, Kuroo had been wrong all along. Bokuto wasn’t straight. Bokuto hadn’t _been_ straight this entire time. Hell, Kuroo had probably stood a chance with him.

He probably could have kept kissing him that night at the party, until they were both breathless and yet desperate for more. That would have made that asshole shut up.

He probably could have kept dancing with Bokuto that night at the Nest, until they were kissing again and Bokuto was leading Kuroo out of the club by his hand, instead of Terushima.

But they did none of those things, because Kuroo had been a dense idiot and had stuck so steadfast to what he’d thought was true out of fear. Fear of getting hurt, fear of rejection, fear that it would ruin things between them.

Because the fact of the matter is that that _was_ a sigh he’d heard from Bokuto when they’d kissed. It was hurt that he’d seen in Bokuto’s eyes, because maybe – just maybe – Bokuto had wanted Kuroo the same way that Kuroo had wanted him, and he’d thought that Kuroo was the one that was rejecting him. God, Kuroo had been so blind about this.

And now he’d missed his chance. Now Bokuto was with someone else, and there was nothing he could do about it.

His eyes began to sting again, and he shook his head, entering his room. No, now wasn’t the time for crying. Now was the time for running until he physically couldn’t run anymore.

Kenma was sitting on the couch playing games when he came in. He looked up at Kuroo, and his face immediately scrunched up into a frown.

“Kuro, are you okay?” He asked. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

Kuroo sniffed as he pulled his running clothes out of his cupboard. “Bokuto has a boyfriend.”

Kenma’s eyes widened as he processed that, and then his lips pulled into a sad grimace. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Kuroo began to change, tossing his jacket over his chair. Over Bokuto’s. Why hadn’t he given that back already. He shook his head. “Don’t be. I’m going for a run.”

Kenma looked unconvinced. “Alright. Well. I’ll be here if you need me.”

Kuroo nodded. “Thanks,” he said, pulling on his running shoes and heading for the door.

He could feel Kenma’s eyes on him, even as he left, but he did his best to ignore him. He loved Kenma, but he didn’t need support right now. He needed to run.

So he did.

Once he was out of the building, he ran – faster than he had earlier that day. This time he was actually dressed and prepared for it. He ran hard, pushing himself as much as he could. He didn’t need to think. He didn’t need to focus on anything else. Just on the next step, on his breathing. He ran for a long time, much longer than that morning he’d been hungover; this time he actually had the energy and capacity to sustain himself.

He was able to keep up an unusually fast pace, despite the fact that he wasn’t racing against Bokuto anymore. Or maybe he was, in a way. He was racing against his thoughts and his problems, all involving Bokuto, desperately trying to get away from them.

His lungs burned and his line of thought quickly narrowed to making his next step, to forcing himself not to stop. He relished in the feeling. He was so focused on it that he didn’t notice someone rounding a corner just as he was doing the same.

He ran head-first into a chest that felt like it might as well have been a wall, and fell backwards, landing right on his ass.

“Ow, shit,” he groaned. “Sorry, I-” He stopped when he looked up. Bokuto was standing above him, looking wildly confused. He was holding hands with that same guy that Kuroo had seen him with earlier. Kuroo felt a sudden wave of anger crash over him.

Bokuto grinned. Kuroo hated the way his heart still fluttered when he did. “Hey, man,” Bokuto said, offering a hand up. “If you wanted to see me that badly, you coulda just said so. No need for bodily harm.”

Kuroo stared at his hand for a moment as if it had personally offended him. He could feel Bokuto’s eyes on him, as well as the other guy’s. He couldn’t just sit here; he had to do _something_. He took Bokuto’s hand, a little reluctantly, and let the other help him up.

“Hey,” Kuroo said eventually, still out of breath. “Sorry, I wasn’t really looking where I was going. You know how it is.”

“Yeah, like that time we were racing and we both ended up tripping over the same branch and falling down a hill,” Bokuto said.

Kuroo chuckled, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah.”

Bokuto’s eyebrows pulled into a slight frown. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Sorry about this morning. I, uh, had some urgent things to do,” he lied. “And I was running super late.”

“Oh. Right.” Though Bokuto nodded, he didn’t seem convinced at all. Kuroo knew that he could see through his lie.

“Anyway, who’s this?” He asked, gesturing to the guy next to Bokuto.

Bokuto blinked, looking confused for a moment. Kuroo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. After a few seconds, he seemed to snap out of it. “Oh, I must not have mentioned it. We haven’t seen each other for a while,” he said. “This is Hisoka Eiji. We’ve been seeing each other for what? A week and a half now?” He looked to Hisoka for confirmation, and smiled when he nodded.

Kuroo did his best to smile at Hisoka, despite the almost overwhelming irritation he felt. “Nice to meet you,” he said, but didn’t hold his hand out for a handshake.

Hisoka smiled as well. “You must be the Kuroo Tetsurou I’ve heard so much about.”

Kuroo’s heart and stomach did a funny thing at that. Bokuto had been talking about him to his boyfriend? Kuroo forced a cocky grin onto his face. “The one and only. Anyway, I’d love to chat, but I have a workout to finish,” he said. “I’ll see you around, Bo. You’re going to Oikawa’s tonight, right?”

“Yeah, man, I’ll see you then,” Bokuto said, holding up a fist.

Kuroo tapped his fist against Bokuto before running again, both glad and a little melancholy to be leaving Bokuto.

 

* * *

 

When he got home, Kenma was just pulling on a jacket and a beanie.

“You going somewhere?” He asked, kicking off his shoes and shrugging off his hoodie by the door.

“Yeah,” Kenma nodded. “I’m going to see Shouyou.”

Kuroo quirked an eyebrow, smiling a little. “Shouyou, is it?”

Kenma blushed and looked away, fidgeting. “Um, yes…”

“Alright, have fun,” he said. “I’ll meet you at Oikawa’s?”

“Sure.” He paused and shot Kuroo a concerned look. “Will you be alright? I can stay if you need me to.”

Kuroo shook his head. “I’m fine. I’ll see you later.”

Kenma nodded and then headed out. Once the door was shut, Kuroo let out a long sigh. Tonight was going to be a long night with Bokuto and Hisoka there. Kuroo could already feel the stress building up inside him, like a ball of tangled nerves, even though he’d just gone for a run.

Determined not to think, he took a shower, dousing himself in water so hot that it turned his skin red. He scrubbed himself clean, and then just stood in the water, focusing on the way the droplets ran down the walls, until it turned cold. Eventually, when his skin was raising into goosebumps and he was beginning to shiver a little, he forced himself to get out. The only thing he could imagine making this situation any more unbearable would be getting sick.

He got dressed and towel dried his hair, and then flopped down onto his bed. He scrolled idly on his phone for a few minutes, trying to occupy himself. His thoughts eventually kept turning back to Bokuto no matter what he did. Groaning in frustration, he let his phone fall onto the bed next to him.

A distraction. That’s what he needed. He needed a good and proper distraction from his everyday life, even if it was just for a little while. But what?

His mind immediately supplied: _Terushima_.

Terushima, yeah that could work. Terushima was always up for casual sex. They were kind of fuckbuddies at this point anyway. So why the hell not?

He picked up his phone again and opened Terushima’s contact, quickly typing out a message.

**Kuroo** : You busy?

A response came a few seconds later.

**Terushima:** Nope, not really. Why? ;)

**Kuroo:** You should come over. My roommate’s out.

**Terushima:** Awesome, I’ll be there in a few.

He let his phone drop onto his bed again and rested his hands loosely on his stomach as he stared at the wall next to him. Emotions churned in his stomach, such a jumbled mixture that he couldn’t pinpoint individual ones. He could vaguely feel guilt, and longing, but there were a whole lot more that he couldn’t put an exact name to. He scrunched his eyes shut and ran a hand through his hair, trying not to dwell on it too much.

About ten minutes later, there was a knock on his door. His heart clenched oddly – whether it was excitement or apprehension, he couldn’t tell – as he got up to answer it. He opened the door, coming face to face with Terushima’s mischievous smile.

Without thinking, Kuroo pulled him inside by the collar of his shirt, crushing their mouths together and shutting the door behind him. Terushima chuckled into Kuroo’s mouth, drawing out into a low whine when Kuroo gripped his ass firmly.

“Eager,” Terushima breathed, grinning, when they finally pulled apart.

“Yeah,” Kuroo returned. “What took you so long?”

Terushima just gave an amused huff, pressing their lips together again and pushing Kuroo towards the bed.

Kuroo complied, happy to lose himself in the feeling of another.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo ended up being late getting to Oikawa’s. No real surprise there, though. He was terrible with time management – not to mention that he and Terushima had taken… Longer than expected. But, whatever. He was allowed to be self-indulgent sometimes.

As he got into the elevator of the building, he quickly did his best to fix his hair, even just a little. Sure, it was usually pretty messy – he had a permanent bedhead that he tried to play off as style. But this was something else entirely. It was pretty notably sex hair. At least, that’s what he thought. Oikawa would probably pick up on it, too, if he didn’t do anything about it – he always did. He tried, unsuccessfully, to flatten it against his head a little, huffing to himself when cowlicks and spikes just sprang back up. He gave up around the sixth floor, and decided to check the time on his cellphone.

6:38 PM

He was nearly forty minutes late. He wasn’t going to hear the end of it, that was for sure.

The elevator dinged as it reached Oikawa’s floor. He sighed, pocketing his phone again, and walked out into the hallway. Oikawa’s apartment was at the very end of the hall, on the left – number 809. He knocked on the door, waiting only a few seconds before Oikawa answered.

“Kuroo, finally!” He exclaimed, ushering Kuroo inside. “We were starting to worry you’d been kidnapped or something.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry I’m late, I was, uh… Doing stuff.” He winced at his own pathetic attempt at a lie as he walked into the living room and took a spot on the couch.

Everyone was already there, lounging around the room and idly chatting, including Bokuto’s boyfriend. Kuroo took the spot that was as far away as possible from them, of course. They all looked up at Kuroo as he and Oikawa entered. Snacks lay across the coffee table, and a stack of DVDs sat next to the TV. Oikawa was as decisive as ever, it seemed.

Oikawa put his hands on his hips, levelling Kuroo with an unimpressed look. “Right. And does this _stuff_ happen to be named Terushima, by any chance?”

Kuroo flushed. “Uh.”

Unable to remain serious, Oikawa laughed and sat down next to Iwaizumi. “I thought so.” Kuroo’s head snapped up when Bokuto coughed, and caught him shifting slightly. He looked a little uncomfortable, and seemed like he was trying not to make eye contact with Kuroo. Kuroo pressed his lips into a thin line. Was it because of Oikawa’s comment? Was it because Kuroo was sleeping with Terushima? But Bokuto had a boyfriend. Why would he be uncomfortable? He didn’t understand. Kuroo vaguely registered Oikawa speaking again. “So, how long have you two been seeing each other?” He asked. He was looking at Kuroo. Not talking about Bokuto and his boyfriend then.

Kuroo shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant. “We’re not, really. It’s just casual.”

Oikawa’s eyebrows shot up. “Fuckbuddies, then? How _debaucherous._ ”

Kuroo frowned. “I’m surprised you even know what that word means, Oikawa.”

Oikawa’s expression quickly turned into a pout, and Iwaizumi laughed. “That’s so mean! I thought you’d be nicer after you got laid, but _noo_.”

Kuroo huffed out a laugh. “What movie are we watching, anyway?”

Kenma sighed. “Don’t ask. We’ve been arguing over it for the last half an hour.”

“Why don’t we let Kuroo choose?” Hinata suggested. “He can be the tie breaker.”

Oikawa shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Kuroo cast a glance at the stack of DVDs, reading the titles off the sides. All of them looked pretty decent, but none of them particularly jumped out at him, except- Yes. His eyes landed on one of the DVDs, a smile curling at his lips. Bokuto had definitely brought that one, he knew it. It was going to be spectacular.

“Two Headed Shark Attack,” he announced.

“ _What_.” Came Oikawa’s pained response.

Bokuto punched a fist into the air and grinned widely. “Oh, hell _yes_ , bro!” He exclaimed, looking more than a little pleased with himself. “I knew you’d come through for me! You do have good taste after all.”

Kuroo grinned back, oddly elated at the normal way that Bokuto spoke to him. “You know it, Bo. I’d never turn down a masterpiece like that.”

Oikawa sighed loudly, putting on a melodramatic face. “ _Fine_. If you guys insist.” He obviously wasn’t happy about this.

Kuroo just turned his grin onto him. “We do.”

Oikawa grumbled a little more, but got up to put the DVD on anyway. Kuroo grinned wider, grabbing one of the bowls of chips and resting it on his lap, settling back into the sofa and getting ready for an excellent movie experience.

Maybe tonight wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugghh, so much angst, I'm sorry! (Not that sorry, though.)  
> Only a few chapters left! Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me this long! This is officially the longest fic I've ever written.  
> Also, as some of you might have noticed, I changed the number of chapters from 13 to 12 - that's because this chapter was originally going to be split into two, but I felt that it worked better as one.
> 
> As always, come talk to me about bokuroo at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo has to deal with his parents. It doesn't go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to post!! I've had the most hectic last little while, so finding time to write has been hard. I hope you guys enjoy!

In the end, the movie night had been pretty bad – but not in the way he’d thought it would be. He’d actually been enjoying himself, in fact. Being around Bokuto had still been pretty awkward, but they’d managed to ease back into their usual banter with little trouble, somehow. He supposed it was just natural for them – being together was easy. Kuroo wasn’t happy, not in the least, about Bokuto’s new boyfriend or about having to see them together, but spending time with Bokuto just about made up for it. It made him happy, despite everything else that was going on.

That had only lasted, however, until he’d received a phone call from his mother. She had graciously informed him that she and his dad were arriving the next day, instead of the next weekend as planned, and that they would be having a nice, late Sunday lunch together. She hadn’t given Kuroo any say in the matter, of course, and it had set him on edge – he’d snapped at just about everyone before apologizing and getting the hell out of there.

Kenma had sent him a worried text, and he’d replied simply with the words ‘my mother’. That seemed to have been enough explanation for him, because there had been no reply by the time his head hit the pillow and he’d fallen asleep.

Now he sat, sulking, on the couch in front of the TV. He had a textbook on his lap that he half-heartedly tried to read while some shitty reality show played in the background. He tried to study, at least a little, before lunch with his parents – but it was a pretty futile effort. He couldn’t concentrate. Anxiety sat, heavy, in the put of his stomach. As much as he tried to ignore it, it wouldn’t go away. He didn’t want to have this dinner with his parents. It was just going to end badly; it always did.

He shoved his face into his textbook and let out a loud groan. _Why_ was this his _life_? Seriously, what did he do to deserve both Bokuto and his parents happening at the same goddamn time? Did he kick a kitten as a child?

Kuroo turned his face towards the door when he heard it open. Kenma stepped inside, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and set his bag down by the wall.

“Hey, Kenma,” Kuroo mumbled, feeling sorry for himself.

“Hi,” Kenma said as he moved to the couch, sitting himself beside Kuroo. “Is everything alright?”

Kuroo sighed, sitting up straight and closing his textbook and putting it to one side. “Not really.”

After a beat of silence, Kenma prompted, “Is it because of the phone call?”

“My mom,” he said. Kenma shot him an unimpressed look, so he sighed again and continued, “She and my dad are arriving today instead of next weekend. One of their meetings got pushed up to this week or something. So she told me we’re all going out for lunch today.”

“You’ll be alright,” Kenma assured him. “It’s just a couple of hours, and then you can come home again. I can get some grilled salted mackerel pike for after, if you want.”

Kuroo felt a surge of endearment towards Kenma, and smiled. Kenma really knew him well. “That’s alright, but thank you,” he said. “Like you said, it’s just a few hours. I’ll get through it. I was kind of an ass last night though, wasn’t I?”

“A little,” Kenma said. “Bokuto was worried. I explained the situation to him, though.”

“Thanks, Kenma. I was worried Bokuto might think I hate him or something.”

“Well, he did ask something like that. But, like I said, I cleared it up.”

“You’re the best, you know that?”

Kenma just hummed.

“Did you and Hinata stay at Oikawa’s last night?”

Kenma nodded. “Yeah. We ended up watching almost all of the movies. By the time we were done it was close to 3am, so Iwaizumi made Oikawa let us all sleep there. Bokuto and Hisoka left, though.”

“That’s nice,” Kuroo said, a little jealous. “I wish I’d been able to stick around, but I would have just made everything unpleasant for everyone. I didn’t even get to finish Two-Headed Shark Attack.” He grimaced, letting out a wistful sigh.

“It wasn’t that great,” Kenma told him.

Kuroo gasped, clucking his chest in mock-offence. “You liar!”

Kenma rolled his eyes. “Right. And Sharknado is a work of art.”

“It _is_ a work of art, Kenma! Honestly, I don’t know what happened to your taste, Kenma. Clearly Bokuto is the only one around here who understands me.”

“Clearly.”

Kuroo shifted, resting his head on Kenma’s shoulder. Kenma watched him for a moment, but didn’t say anything. He knew that Kuroo would talk when he was ready for the silence to be filled. Kuroo felt Kenma’s hand in his hair, stroking absently. Kenma really did know how to make Kuroo feel better. They stayed like that for a while, staring at the TV, neither of them really watching.

“I missed my chance, Kenma,” Kuroo said. “I thought… I really thought he was straight. I didn’t think I had a chance. I don’t know, maybe I didn’t, anyway. But I’ll never know, now. I should have just _said_ something. I’m such an idiot.”

“Maybe. But I think pretty much everyone assumed he was straight, except for Oikawa. He has a good sense for these things, and even he wasn’t completely sure. You did what you thought was best.”

“But you know me and ‘what I think is best’.”

“True. You did think that breaking into a zoo was a good idea.”

“Kenma!” He whined. “I told you, it was Bokuto’s idea!”

“You still went along with it,” Kenma pointed out. Kuroo just huffed. “Are you going to carry on seeing Terushima?”

Kuroo shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not really _seeing_ him, anyway. It’s just casual. It’d be unfair for me to date anyone while I still have feelings for Bokuto.”

Kenma hummed. “That’s mature of you.”

“Kenma, I am the _pinnacle_ of maturity.”

“Of course, Kuro.”

Kuroo grinned despite himself. Kenma always cheered him up. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and checked the time, grin quickly disappearing. 3:45pm. He was meeting his parents in forty five minutes.

“I need to get ready,” he said, standing up and moving to his cupboard.

Kenma nodded. “Call me if you need me.”

“Thanks, Kenma.”

 

* * *

 

Kuroo stood around the corner from the place he was meeting his parents. It was a roadside café slash restaurant with Italian-style food. Though it was still pretty cold, it was a clear day; perfect for sitting outside while they ate. His parents were already there, he knew. He’d seen them when he’d peeked around the corner.

He stood with his back to the wall of some clothing boutique, staring up at the sky and trying not to think about how much he didn’t want to see his parents. Not now. Not after all the stress he’d already been going through with Bokuto. But, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, he guessed.

He pulled out his phone and typed a quick message to Kenma.

**Kuroo:** About to meet them. Wish me luck.

He didn’t wait for his reply. Pocketing his phone and taking a deep breath, he stepped around the corner. His mother spotted him within a few seconds, standing up and plastering on one of her obviously-fake smiles.

“Tetsurou, darling, hi!” She called, waving. His father turned to regard him as he approached, barely giving him a nod of acknowledgement.

“Hi, mom,” Kuroo said. He gave her a hug as he reached the table, and then sat across from her and his father. “Hi, dad.”

“You’re late,” was the only response he got.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was helping Kenma with some homework.” It was a lie, but it was better than saying _I was hiding around the corner for the last ten minutes_.

“If you’ve got time to be helping that little friend of yours, you can spend more of it on your own studying,” his father scolded. _Here we go again_.

Kuroo tried to smile. Whether or not he was successful was another matter entirely. “My grades are nothing to worry about.”

“If you’re not getting one hundred percent, you can still improve,” his father said sternly, taking a sip of his drink.

“Of course,” he said. There was no use in trying to disagree with him.

“How have you been, dear?” His mother asked him. “We never hear from you!”

_I wonder why_ , he thought, suppressing a sigh.

“Busy,” he said, cranking up his charm to the max. His parents were sometimes less stern when he did. “I’ve had a lot of assignments and tests recently. Been focusing most of my energy and time on that.”

“Oh, good, good. I’m so pleased that you’re dedicating yourself to your studies,” his mother said. His father just grunted.

“So, I was thinking of maybe playing volleyball again,” he said.

His mother frowned. “What about your running? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She asked. “You remember what happened in high school.”

He did. He’d fallen for one of his straight teammates. It’d somehow come out, and had caused a scandal across the whole school. It was how teenagers were, he supposed. None of the volleyball team had felt comfortable with him, after that – besides Kenma. So, he’d stopped. But now… Bokuto had shown him that it could be fun again.

Kuroo shrugged. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“You should stick to your studies,” his father said. “I don’t want anything distracting you.”

“I’m an adult, dad. I think I can balance my studies with extramurals,” he said, accidentally letting a bit of venom into his tone. “I’ve done just fine so far.” His father gave him an annoyed look. They stared at each other for a good minute, before Kuroo finally relented. Deflating visibly, he muttered out a “sorry.”

They ordered their food shortly after. Kuroo didn’t have much of an appetite, so he just ordered a light pasta dish. He’d probably be hungry later, but he never could eat much while trying to play family with his parents. They made polite conversation through most of dinner, not talking about anything particularly important. The subject didn’t veer towards his sexuality, and Kuroo almost felt hopeful that they’d avoid the topic altogether. Almost.

“So, how is the business going?” Kuroo asked, listlessly moving the food around his plate.

“Oh, just wonderful,” his mother said. “We’re hoping to close a new deal this week. It’s almost all worked out. There’s just one thing…”

Kuroo resisted the urge to grimace. He didn’t like where this was going. “What is it?” He asked.

“Well, the man we’re meeting with to close the deal – he has a daughter about your age. Pretty little thing. She’d probably like you,” his mother said. Kuroo fought hard to keep his smile plastered on his face. “I’m sure her father would be in a _much_ better mood if he knew his daughter was being taken care of by such a smart, upstanding young man such as yourself.”

Kuroo’s smile faltered. “No,” the word was out of his mouth before he could even think. He winced as he saw his father’s expression pull into an angry frown.

“I told you he wouldn’t,” his father grumbled. “The faggots have infected his mind too much.”

“They haven’t _infected_ me. I’m bisexual,” Kuroo hissed. “And that will never change.”

“Oh, honey, you just need a nice young woman in your life,” his mother said. “This young lady would be _perfect_ for you.”

“We’ve talked about this! Whether I’m dating a man or a woman, I’ll still be bisexual.”

“You’re being persistent. What, you found another fairy to play around with?” His father snapped. Kuroo spluttered. “Disgraceful.”

Kuroo’s cheeks burned and his eyes stung. He struggled for words, coming up with nothing. It was like this every time. Why did he still put himself through this, every single time? He’d had enough. He didn’t want to do this anymore. His father looked about to say something more when Kuroo felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned around, looking up to see none other than Bokuto standing there.

Bokuto grinned down at him and then turned his attention to Kuroo’s father. “No offence, sir, but if you’re saying that your son is disgraceful, then you don’t really know him at all,” he said. Kuroo felt his heart swell, and now tears were falling freely from his eyes. He could seriously kiss him right now.

Kuroo’s father bristled. “Excuse me? Who are you?”

“Probably the only one at this table right now that actually understands Kuroo- Tetsurou?” He looked at Kuroo. Kuroo felt a corner of his lip tug up, and he nodded. “He’s amazingly smart, a really great guy, his hair’s almost as cool as mine – and if none of that is good enough for you because of who he might want to date, then honestly what the fuck? That’s beyond dumb.” Kuroo’s father was about to snap out some retort, but Bokuto didn’t let him. “Now if you’ll _excuse_ me, I’m going to be taking my bro away now, because he deserves better than this.”

Before Kuroo could say anything, Bokuto was taking his hand and pulling him away. Kuroo’s mouth fell open, and when he glanced back at his parents, they were wearing similar expressions. He glanced at their hands. They fit together so warmly, so snugly. It was perfect. This was perfect. _Bokuto_ was perfect. Though tears still fell, Kuroo’s mouth stretched into a wide grin as the sight of Kuroo’s parents disappeared into the distance.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo sat next to Bokuto on his bed, nursing a beer from one of the six-packs they’d bought. Maybe it was a bit excessive, letting Bokuto buy more than one for just the two of them, but he really didn’t have it in him to argue at this point. He just really, really appreciated the sentiment. Bokuto was… Kuroo didn’t even have the words anymore – he was just really lucky to have Bokuto around. He took another swig of his beer.

He was already pretty tipsy – okay, maybe a lot tipsy. But so was Bokuto, so it was okay. Akaashi was out for the evening, so they had the room to themselves, and could be as loud and boisterous as they wanted. Kuroo chuckled at something Bokuto said, too deep in thought to give a whole-hearted reaction.

“Hey, bro, are you alright?” Bokuto asked when Kuroo grew quiet again. “Your parents… They were pretty mean.”

“Yeah… They are,” Kuroo sighed. “They’ve always been like that. But… Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just thinking.”

“Why do you put up with it? You’re smart enough to be on a scholarship.”

Kuroo shrugged. “They’re my parents, I guess. Part of me wishes we could be a happy family.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kuroo shook his head. “No, it’s fine… I’m just… I’m really grateful, Bo. For what you did. I can’t- I can’t even put it into words.”

“Whoa, dude, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this serious before,” Bokuto said, pressing the back of his hand to Kuroo’s forehead. “Are you sick or something.”

Kuroo laughed, swatting Bokuto’s hand away. “Jackass. I’m trying to be nice, here.”

Bokuto grinned. “What can I say? I’m just a saint.”

Kuroo snorted. “Not even close, Bo. Also, ‘Tetsurou’?” He said, grinning slyly.

Bokuto blushed, spluttering. “Uh, I- I’m sorry! If you weren’t comfortable with that! It’s just… You were all Kuroo’s and-”

“It’s fine,” Kuroo laughed. “I don’t mind if you call me Tetsurou.”

Bokuto’s blush deepened, and if Kuroo’s mind wasn’t clouded by alcohol, he might have been able to figure out what that meant. He nodded.

“You know, my dad once called me an ‘anal assassin’,” Kuroo said.

Bokuto broke out into a full body laugh, throwing his head back and doubling over. “He _what_?”

“An ‘anal assassin’,” Kuroo repeated. “Apparently he thought it was a derogatory term.” He snorted. “I just like to think it means I’m really good at sex.”

“Oh really?” Bokuto said, a lofty, and perhaps a little sly, expression on his face.

Kuroo felt his cheeks heat a little, finally realizing what he’d said. “Yeah,” he tried to seem confident. “I mean, other people seem to think so.”

Bokuto leaned a little closer. Kuroo’s skin prickled in anticipation. “Oh yeah? Big words,” he said.

“They’re not big words if they’re true,” Kuroo retorted.

“Prove it.”

Something seemed to click into place in that moment, something that had been _this_ close to doing so for the longest time. Before the, very tiny, sober part of his brain could stop him, Kuroo was surging forward and pressing their lips together.

It was soft at first, part of Kuroo still hesitating, but Bokuto quickly pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. A whimper escaped Kuroo’s lips at the feeling of one of Bokuto’s hands in his hair, and the other on his hip.

His brain shut down, the feeling of _Bokuto_ almost overwhelming him. He almost let himself be pushed back onto the bed, but his competitive edge flared up. He was supposed to be proving something.

He pushed back at Bokuto, with a little more firmness, and licked into his mouth. Bokuto made a surprised noise as he hit the bed, Kuroo moving on top of him.

“Hey-” Bokuto began.

“I’m supposed to be proving myself to you, aren’t I?” Kuroo whispered into Bokuto’s ear, nipping at the lobe.

Bokuto shivered and relaxed, becoming almost pliant in Kuroo’s hands. It was almost as if Bokuto was saying _do what you want_ , and it would be an understatement to say that it was a turn-on for Kuroo. He sat up, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it aside while Bokuto did the same, before ducking down and pressing kisses along Bokuto’s neck and chest. Bokuto’s breath hitched every time Kuroo’s teeth caught on his skin, and Kuroo couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his lips.

He hooked his fingers into the waistband of Bokuto’s jeans and underwear, pulling them down in one go, Bokuto lifting his hips to help. When he’d tossed Bokuto’s pants away, Kuroo had to pause for a moment. Bokuto was _huge_. He really, really wanted him inside of him. But, no. That wasn’t what they were doing right now.

Kuroo leaned down and sucked a mark onto Bokuto’s hip, hands gripping his thighs tightly. Bokuto keened, his muscles stiffening ever so slightly. Kuroo’s dick twitched excitedly at the sound. He moved to kiss Bokuto again as he rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. Bokuto returned the kiss eagerly.

“What do you want?” Kuroo purred into Bokuto’s ear – or, well, tried to. Purring was a difficult thing to do while tipsy. Bokuto let out a whine as Kuroo’s hands inched closer and closer to his dick, but didn’t touch. “What was that? I couldn’t quite seem to hear you.”

Bokuto huffed impatiently. “Asshole.”

Kuroo grinned. “Yes, but that doesn’t answer my question. Tell me what you want.”

“I want… Your mouth,” Bokuto settled on.

Kuroo’s grin faltered a little at the earnestness of Bokuto’s request, his cheeks turning just that much redder. He wasn’t going to let a little embarrassment stop him now, however.

“Whatever you say,” he said, positioning himself to get to work.

He licked up Bokuto’s thigh, biting another mark there and smiling when Bokuto’s breath hitched again. He wrapped his fingers around the thick shaft of Bokuto’s dick, giving it an experimental tug. Bokuto gasped, but looked a little indignant at the fact that Kuroo was most certainly not using his mouth.

“Hey, Bo, you got any lube?” He asked.

Bokuto nodded dully, reaching over to his night stand and pulling out a bottle of lube from the drawer. “Why?”

Kuroo plucked it from his hand, popping the lid of the bottle. He poured some onto his fingers before tossing it aside, leaning closer to Bokuto again. “You’ll see,” was all that Kuroo said.

Bokuto’s huff was cut short when Kuroo began stroking him again and slipped a finger into his hole.

“Are you gonna…?” Bokuto asked.

Kuroo shook his head. “Not today.”

He tried not to think about the implications of what he just said.

He pushed the finger deeper, still stroking with his other hand, as he brought his face closer to Bokuto’s thighs again. He pressed another kiss to his skin, before pulling his finger out and slipping his tongue inside in its place.

“Fuck,” Bokuto gasped.

Kuroo jerked Bokuto a little harder, skilfully working him with his tongue at the same time. Bokuto’s gasps turned into long, low moans and Kuroo was already half hard just from the sounds. Bokuto began to thrust up into Kuroo’s hand, swearing and slurring intelligibly and, soon, he was coming.

Kuroo lifted himself up and pressed another kiss to Bokuto’s lips, relishing in the taste of him.

“That wasn’t… What I meant,” Bokuto said in between breaths, once Kuroo had pulled away.

Kuroo grinned. “You just said you wanted my mouth. You didn’t say _where_ ,” he teased. “But how was it?”

“That was….” Bokuto paused, seeming to struggle with his words. “Anal assassin, indeed.”

Kuroo burst into a fit of laughter. He couldn’t believe Bokuto just _said_ that – and with a completely serious expression, too.

Before he had time to recover or say anything, he was being pushed back onto the bed gently.

“What?” He asked, letting his back hit the mattress.

“It’s my turn,” Bokuto said, grinning.

Bokuto pulled at his jeans, much like Kuroo had before. Kuroo lifted his hips, letting his trousers and underwear be pulled away. He didn’t have time to process what was happening before Bokuto’s mouth was suddenly on his dick. There was no lead up, no preparation, but, god, it was amazing. Bokuto lowered his head, kept lowering and lowering, until he’d taken the entire length of his dick into his mouth, and – what a sight.

Bokuto bobbed his head, licking and sucking, and Kuroo felt like he was going to go crazy. It was a little sloppy, but undeniably _good_ – so completely Bokuto. Kuroo moaned, threading his fingers into Bokuto’s hair and struggled not to buck his hips. In an almost embarrassingly short time, he was coming into Bokuto’s mouth. He felt a little bad about not warning Bokuto beforehand, but Bokuto didn’t seem bothered. He just swallowed.

_Fuck._

Grogginess swept over him – a combination of the stress, the alcohol, and the sex. He tried to get up to – he wasn’t really sure. Clean? Leave? But Bokuto just pushed him back down again. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo woke up wrapped in Bokuto’s arms and feeling so completely happy. Bokuto most certainly, definitely liked and wanted him as much as Kuroo did. It made a warm feeling spread through his chest, and a wide smile pull at his lips.

But then-

Wasn’t Bokuto dating Hisoka?

Kuroo’s smile quickly disappeared, and dread and panic settled in his stomach.

He slipped out of Bokuto’s hold as quickly and as quietly as he could, careful not to wake him. He pulled on his clothes from the day before and, as soon as he was dress, fled from the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, filth. Wonderful filth.  
> Sorry, but the angst isn't over just yet! But things will be wrapping up pretty soon.
> 
> Also, blame my beta for the 'anal assassin' thing being put in here. It's an actual thing though, look it up.
> 
> I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, as I have to focus on some irl stuff, but I'll try my best to make it soon!
> 
> Come talk to be at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr~


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo likes to watch junk TV instead of avoiding his problems, and his friends hold an intervention for him and Bokuto.

Kuroo avoided Bokuto.

Sure, he’d been avoiding him before, but now he _avoided_ him. He actively ignored his texts and calls, until they became less and less frequent. He didn’t read any of the messages beyond the first ‘ _dude, talk to me’_.

He knew he really, really should. It was getting a little ridiculous, how much they were dancing around one another – but he also really didn’t want to deal with this mess of a situation. Bokuto was dating Hisoka. Bokuto and Kuroo had slept together. That meant that Bokuto had cheated on Hisoka with Kuroo. What did it say about Kuroo that he’d slept with a taken man? Even if said taken man was the guy he’d fallen for and had been pining over for who knows how long.

Thoughts swirled around and around in his head. It felt like his brain was about to explode. Though, that might be the brain freeze.

He sat on the couch with his knees tucked up to his chest, watching some crappy reality TV show while he shovelled cookie dough ice cream into his mouth. Kenma sat in his bed, his eyes glued to his video game. The couple on the TV said some cheesy line that Kuroo didn’t catch, before practically collapsing into each other’s arms and gnawing at each other’s faces in a sloppy, sickly-sweet kiss. Kuroo let out a gagging noise that devolved into a depressed sigh, and spooned more ice cream into his mouth.

“Kuro,” Kenma said.

“Hmm?” Was Kuroo’s answer.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Kenma asked, still tapping away at his game.

“I told you, nothing happened,” he said.

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be sitting here like this,” he pointed out. “The last time you skipped classes this much was after your last breakup.”

Kuroo sighed again. Sometimes he hated how well Kenma knew him. “It’s just my parents,” he mumbled, knowing that Kenma would see right through him.

“No it isn’t,” he said.

Kuroo through his hands into the air. “Fine. I’ll tell you,” he said, and then paused, fidgeting. He could feel Kenma’s eyes on him, expectant. Eventually, he took a deep breath and looked up at him. “I slept with Bokuto.”

Kenma’s eyes widened, just marginally. “Oh.”

“I was at lunch with my parents. They were being their usual selves, trying to set me up with some girl for their own business gains,” he scoffed. “I wasn’t having it. Then, Bokuto. He just fucking sweeps in like some fucking knight in shining armour. Like, who gives him the right to be so amazing? And he defends me and drags me away from there, and I swear to god I didn’t think I could fall for him any more, but I did. Then we were in his room and drinking and talking and, I don’t know, then we were suddenly kissing and… Yeah. It happened. I… Got scared the morning and ran away. I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring your phone?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo nodded.

Kenma sighed and climbed out of bed, padding over to Kuroo and sitting next to him. “Why does everything have to be so complicated with you?” He murmured.

Kuroo gave him a self-depreciating smile. “I don’t know. You’d think I’d learn by now.”

“It’s part of what makes you you, I guess,” Kenma shrugged.

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do? He’s dating Hisoka, isn’t he?”

Kuroo frowned, lips pulling into a grimace. “That’s what I thought. I don’t know what to do.”

“You should talk to him.”

“I should,” Kuroo said, staring into his half-empty tub of ice cream as if it could give him answers.

“But you won’t,” Kenma sighed.

“I don’t want to,” Kuroo muttered, feeling sulky.

Kenma sighed again. “That’s okay. You can take your time. We can watch your silly reality TV for now. But you should do something about this eventually.”

“I will,” Kuroo nodded, a small smile pulling at his mouth. “Thank you, Kenma.”

Kenma shrugged. “Someone has to put up with you.”

Kuroo chuckled. “Well, you’re kind of stuck with me.”

Kenma huffed, but there was a smile on his face. Kuroo’s smile widened a little as he turned his attention back to the TV, eating more ice cream and offering some to Kenma. There they sat for the rest of the day, Hinata eventually joining them, eating ice cream and watching shitty shows about people whose lives were marginally worse than Kuroo’s.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo didn’t want to do something about his situation. In fact, he really didn’t want to do anything at all. But, he had classes to get to and assignments to do and routes to run. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to go out into the world and be a responsible adult. Sort-of adult. Semi-adult. Okay, so he wasn’t really much of an adult. But he liked to think that he could be responsible like one. Sometimes.

So, he dragged himself out of bed, ignored the stack of icecream tubs on the coffee table, and got dressed. Kenma still lay in bed with Hinata, the both of them snoring softly. Kuroo silently cursed them for making better life choices than him and not taking any morning classes. The lucky bastards.

He zipped up his jacket and pulled on his boots as he left his room. He stuck his earphones in his ears and set a brisk pace down the stairs, trying to seem as unapproachable as possible. He didn’t really feel like talking to anyone right then – he didn’t have the energy. He wasn’t even sure if he could manage a conversation with mild-mannered and patient Daichi.

As he passed the second floor, he kept his eyes trained on the ground and tried not to think about Bokuto. He should speak to Bokuto, he knew, ask him what he meant to him – if he actually wanted something with Kuroo, or if it was just meaningless sex. Just some ploy to get back at his boyfriend for some reason. Or something like that.

Kuroo sighed to himself and shook his head. No, he wasn’t getting into this stupid rut again. He’d spent the last few weeks thinking circles in his head and he was, frankly, sick of it. He could sit down and think through this seriously later. For now, he needed to get to class and get through the day. He’d just focus on his studies. Everything was going to be fine.

He left the dormitory and made his way to his first class of the day. He briefly considered stopping for some coffee on the way, but decided against it in the end; he was already running a little late, and his first lecture of the day was pretty important.

He arrived to his lecture just barely on time – he only had a minute or so to spare. The lecture hall was full, so he had to take a seat near the back in between two guys he swore he’d never seen before. The lecturer arrived shortly after him and began the class. Kuroo forced himself to be attentive, even more so than usual, and jot down notes continuously to distract himself from any other thoughts that might flit into his head.

The lecturer droned on and on for what seemed like an eternity, and it was all Kuroo could do to not fall asleep on his notebook. By the time his class ended, he was more than ready for a nap. Even if it was only 10am.

As he trudged out of the lecture hall, deciding that he should get some coffee from the cafeteria before his next class, he saw a familiar head of black and white hair. He stopped in his tracks, watching as Bokuto walked in his direction. They locked eyes for a moment before Kuroo’s panic went into overdrive.

He wasn’t ready to deal with this. He wasn’t ready to face what he’d done with Bokuto. What he did next most definitely was not Kuroo’s proudest moment. And that was saying something, considering just how many times he’d embarrassed himself in his lifetime – especially since meeting Bokuto. He ran. He turned on his heel and ran down the hall, away from Bokuto.

He thought he heard someone calling his name from somewhere behind him, but he ignored them. He just ran.

 

* * *

 

The rest of his day was just as tiring as his morning was. He got through the rest of his classes without too much incident – or seeing Bokuto again – but it felt like a chore. He shuffled through the hallways with his hands shoved in his pockets and his head ducked downwards, and he ate his lunch sluggishly – even caffeine didn’t seem to be helping him.

His phone had been buzzing throughout the day, and when he finally checked it after his last class, he couldn’t stop himself from groaning.

**Kenma:** Kuro. I heard that you ran away from Bokuto today. Is that true?  
**Kenma:** Kuro, please answer me.  
**Kenma:** You need to deal with this.

**Oikawa:** Is what I heard today true? Wow, you really need someone to teach you the ways of romance!  
**Oikawa:** I’d be happy to take you under my wing~  
**Oikawa:** It’s rude to ignore people o͡͡͡͡͡͡╮(｡ >口<｡)╭o͡͡͡͡͡͡   
**Oikawa:** Answer meeeeee!  
**Oikawa:** I could be your couples councelor!!!

**Daichi:** Are you an idiot?

**Terushima:** Hey, wanna fuck?

Kuroo sighed to himself. What a mess. He really was an idiot, honestly. Sometimes he really, _really_ wished that his fight or flight instinct wasn’t so strong. He always let it get the better of him, and it always got him into shit.

He ignored everyone else for the time being, and typed out a response to Terushima.

**Kuroo:** Sorry, not today.

He paused, his fingers hesitating over his keypad. Did he really want to continue this thing with Terushima? He wasn’t so sure. He’d messed up so much already – did he really want yet another thing that could potentially go south? Making up his mind, he typed another message.

**Kuroo:** Actually, I’m not sure if I want to keep doing this. It was fun, but I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.

A few minutes later, he got a response.

**Terushima:** It’s cool. I had fun with you, too. See you around.

Kuroo felt vaguely guilty about ending it via text, but hey – it was nothing serious, right? So it didn’t matter too much. It wasn’t like Terushima was his boyfriend or anything.

Kuroo sighed again and pocketed his phone, leaving his final lecture hall and heading back to the dormitory. His walk was silent and pensive. He’d really fucked up with this one. Bokuto would definitely be hurt by Kuroo’s running away from him. He’d definitely seen him. How was he going to fix this? Even if… Even if Bokuto chose to stay with Hisoka, Kuroo hoped that he’d be able to stay friends with him. Being with Bokuto was fun, even if he couldn’t have anything more.

He scrunched up his nose, suppressing another groan, as he approached the dorm building. Why did everything have to be so complicated? He knew that the answer was probably that he made everything more difficult that it needed to be for himself, but that wasn’t exactly the answer he wanted. So.

As he climbed the stairs, a feeling of dread settled into his stomach. Like something bad was about to happen. But that was silly. The worst that might happen was that Kenma chewed him out, but Kenma was too gentle to get _really_ angry. He shook his head. It was fine. Everything was fine.

When he opened the door to his room, however, he realized that everything most definitely was _not_ fine.

His room was filled to the brim with people, all sitting and standing around the couch and looking varying degrees of solemn, concerned, or amused. Kenma was perched on his bed next to Hinata, playing a game on his phone while Hinata watched restlessly. Oikawa and Iwaizumi sat on one end of the couch, with Daichi and Sugawara on the other. Akaashi was wedged in the middle of both couples.

All eyes turned to him when he stepped through the door, and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

“You’re home, good,” Oikawa said, crossing one leg over the other and resting his hands atop his knee. “Come in, we want to talk to you.”

Kuroo’s eyebrows lowered into a frown. He stepped further into the room, a little cautiously, and kicked the door closed behind him. “What’s this about?” He asked.

“We think you have a problem,” Oikawa said very seriously, but Kuroo could see that he was stifling laughter. Daichi, Iwaizumi, and Akaashi all rolled their eyes – in sync to almost a terrifying degree – while Sugawara looked almost as amused as Oikawa did.

“Is this… Is this an intervention?” Kuroo asked. “Are you guys fucking with me right now?”

“I wish we were,” Iwaizumi sighed. “I’d rather be literally anywhere else right now.”

“Honestly, me too,” Daichi said. “But Oikawa is oddly convincing.”

“It’s my charm and good looks,” Oikawa said, flicking his hair. “They’re impossible to resist.”

Kuroo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh my god. If you guys are going to do this to me, at least don’t get off track.”

 “I thought we should leave you be, but Oikawa thinks you’re, and I quote, ‘screwing this up faster than I can fix it’,” Kenma answered, eyes not leaving his phone.

“Wait, is this about Bokuto? Seriously?” Kuroo demanded, feeling more than a little bewildered.

“Yep,” Sugawara said. “He should be here any minute now.”

“ _Bokuto’s_ in on this too?” Kuroo’s voice was raising higher and higher in pitch. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

“Not exactly,” Akaashi said. “I told him I was visiting Kenma and that he should meet me here before we go out for dinner.”

“Good, so at least I’m not the only one being ambushed here.”

As if on cue, the door slammed open and Bokuto burst in. “Akaashi! Let’s go already, I’m hungry!” He exclaimed, but stopped short just behind Kuroo. “Wait, what’s going on here?”

“Apparently they’re holding an intervention for us,” Kuroo said, and then added under his breath, “this is so fucking stupid.”

“An intervention?” He asked, cocking his head to the side. “For what?”

“Please, sit down,” Oikawa said, putting on a motherly and caring persona. “We can talk about this like mature adults.”

“No,” Kuroo snapped. “No way am I playing into this insanity. Just say what you have to say.”

Iwaizumi sighed. “We’re getting sick of your guys’ shit. There, I said it. Can we get on with this already? I’m hungry, too.”

Kuroo was about to open his mouth and retort again, when Akaashi cut in. “You two are terrible at communicating. When things don’t go the way you want, you don’t talk about it, and then the both of you sulk for ages. It needs to stop.”

Kuroo inhaled, trying yet again to snap back, but Daichi interrupted. He just groaned. “Look, there’s obviously something going on here. You need to talk to each other.”

“You know what I don’t need? This right now,” Kuroo muttered to himself.

“Look, we’re just trying to help,” Oikawa said. “You two’ve been making this more difficult for yourselves than you need. You’ve been dancing around one another for long enough.”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk, Oikawa?” Kuroo hissed. “You and Iwaizumi danced around each other for _years_! You know what? No. Just no. This is stupid. I’m leaving. When I come back, there’d either better be booze or no one in my damn room.”

Without giving anyone, least of all Bokuto, a chance to reply, he turned and stormed out of his room. He knew that he probably shouldn’t be this angry at his friends; they were just trying to help, after all. But he couldn’t help it. It was like all of his emotions from this whole mess were coming to a head.

He breathed out a long sigh, forcing himself to calm down. He’d make it up to his friends for snapping at them later. For now, he’d just go get tea or something while he mulled things over. As he walked, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out a message to Kenma.

**Kuroo:** Sorry about snapping earlier. I’ll buy everyone a round of drinks next time we go to the Nest.

**Kenma:** It’s fine. Oikawa says he wants two.

**Kuroo:** Tell him not to push his luck lmao

With a soft smile, feeling slightly better knowing that his friends weren’t angry with him, he continued walking.

 

* * *

 

“You’re doing this again?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo lounged on the couch, legs and arms stretched out. The television was tuned to Catfish: the TV Show, and Kuroo really wasn’t inclined to move anytime soon. He wanted to go talk to Bokuto, he really did, but right now he was procrastinating their conversation. Every time he thought of going and speaking to him, his pulse spiked and his palms became sweaty. As much as he wanted to be, he wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready for rejection.

“Hey,” he said, shrugging. “At least I’m not eating the ice cream anymore.”

“Right,” Kenma said. “I’m going out. I’ll see you later.”

“See you,” Kuroo said, turning his attention back to the TV.

In the end, the episode turned out to be one of the happy ones. The person hadn’t been who they said they were, but the couple still chose to be together. It was sweet. He shut off the TV just as they were about to kiss for the last time, and just stared at the ceiling for a while.

He was being so pathetic. He couldn’t keep dragging this out. Maybe he just wanted to stay in this limbo, where Bokuto hadn’t yet fully rejected him, and he could at least _pretend_. When the buzzing thoughts got too much for him, he forced himself up and off the couch.

This was going to stop. He was going to talk to Bokuto.

With that thought in mind, he took off his pyjamas and changed into something more presentable. His hair was still a little messy, messier than usual, but it would have to do. If he didn’t go now, he would lose his resolve and go right back to watching Catfish. Nodding at his reflection in the mirror, he headed for the door, pulling it open and-

Came face to face with Bokuto.

“Oh,” he said, surprised. “Bo.”

“Uh, yeah. Hey,” Bokuto greeted with a sheepish smile. “Were you going out?”

“Um, well, yes. But I was going to see you,” he explained.

“Well, that’s good then.”

After a beat of silence, Kuroo shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. Good. Do you, um, want to come in?”

“Yes, please,” Bokuto said, stepping past Kuroo and shucking off his jacket. “I was hoping we could talk?”

“Yeah, just make yourself comfortable.”

Kuroo retreated back into his room, shutting the door behind him, and sat on the couch. Bokuto sat on the opposite end, looking unsure of himself and a little sad. Kuroo had never seen him like this. It hurt to think that he was the cause of it.

“So,” Bokuto began, voice oddly subdued. “We slept together.”

“Yeah, we did.”

Neither of them seemed to really know what to say. Kuroo felt a guilty gladness that Bokuto was just as uncertain about the situation as he was.

“Did you… Like it?” Bokuto asked.

Kuroo frowned. “Did I like it?”

“Fuck, um. Sorry. That was weird. I’m just- I’m a little lost here,” he sighed.

Kuroo lowered his eyes. “Yeah, me too.”

“Why did you leave?”

“What do you mean why? Should I have stayed and waited ‘till Hisoka came for a visit?” He snapped, and immediately felt guilty for it. “Sorry.”

“Wait, you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Hisoka and I broke up right after we left the movie night at Oikawa’s,” he said.

“What? Why?”

“Well… He said he couldn’t date someone who had feelings for someone else.”

Kuroo’s heartbeat picked up. Feelings for someone else? Who? He felt a fluttering in his stomach, and just the faintest bit of hope. “You… What?”

“Yeah, um. Us sleeping together… It wasn’t just meaningless sex for me,” Bokuto said.

“Wait, since when?” Kuroo demanded.

“Well, I’ve had feelings for you basically since we first met. Someone that looks like you… Having your face with your beautiful lips in my crotch does things to a guy,” he chuckled, grinning. “Sorry, I know you’re not really interested in me. You have that thing with Terushima and…”

Kuroo’s stomach was doing somersaults right then. Bokuto had feelings for him? Oh my god, Bokuto had feelings for him. Was this real? It couldn’t be real, could it? Wait, Bokuto was still talking. Kuroo clamped a hand over the other’s mouth to quieten him, and Bokuto made a surprised sound.

“Wait a second,” Kuroo said. “You have feelings for me?”

Bokuto nodded.

Kuroo pulled his hand away. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, I tried dropping a ton of hints! Like, that night at the Nest, we were dancing but then you left and…”

“I thought you were straight!” Kuroo exclaimed. “Right up until you started dating Hisoka, I thought you were straight.”

Bokuto cocked his head and frowned. “What gave you that idea?”

“When I told you my parents were unsupportive of my bisexuality, you said that you had no idea what that was like.”

“Because my parents are supportive of me!”

Kuroo leaned forward and swatted the side of Bokuto’s head. “Be clearer next time! I thought you meant you had no idea ‘cause you were straight!”

Bokuto flinched. “Oh. Sorry. Wait, why is that such a big deal to you anyway?”

Kuroo sighed. “Oh, my god. You are the densest person on the planet,” he muttered. “Except maybe me, I guess.”

Bokuto’s frown just deepened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Bokuto, I have feelings for you, too. I’ve had feelings for you for the longest time,” he said. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice. Or say anything.”

Bokuto’s frown deepened, as if he was trying to process what Kuroo was saying. Then his frown turned into a shocked look. Then he broke out into one of the biggest grins Kuroo had ever seen. “Wait, seriously?”

Kuroo huffed. “Yes, seriously.”

“Awesome, dude.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “So are you going to get over here and kiss me, or what?”

Bokuto practically dove at Kuroo, and before he had any time to react, their mouths were smashed together. It was desperate, it was needy, and it was _perfect_. Kuroo returned the kiss with just as much fervour as Bokuto was giving, lips crushing into one another and tongues sliding against each other. When they finally pulled apart, they were breathless. Bokuto was beaming down at Kuroo, and Kuroo was sure that he was smiling just as widely.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me you weren’t straight,” Kuroo said.

“Well, now you know. I’m an anal astronaut,” Bokuto replied with a stupid amount of earnestness. Kuroo burst out into loud, full-body shaking laughter.

“You’re a _what_?”

“An anal astronaut,” Bokuto replied. “It means I’m gay. Because gay people _moon_ each other.”

“You have to be fucking joking,” Kuroo said in between laughs. “That’s it. No. We’re breaking up.”

“You mean like… We’re together now?” Bokuto asked.

Kuroo hesitated. “Yeah, I mean. If you want to.”

Bokuto pushed the hair away from Kuroo’s face, and leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Of course I want to.”

“Good,” Kuroo sighed, feeling more than a little relieved. “Then you’re stuck with me.”

“Awesome,” Bokuto grinned.

“Next time, though, let’s just talk to one another? Like, just think about all the sex we could have been having if we’d just done that in the first place.”

“Shit, man, you’re right,” Bokuto said. “Deal.”

Kuroo smiled, leaning forward and pressing another, gentler, kiss to Bokuto’s lips. Happiness and warmth washed over him; this was how things were meant to be. This is where he belonged.

With Bokuto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry that took so long to get up! I've been feeling a little uninspired recently, and I'm currently on a trip ^^  
> I hope you guys liked it! I was grinning like an idiot while writing the whole final scene.  
> The last chapter will be mostly like an epilogue, I guess and will tie up one or two more loose ends. Plus, these dorks being adorable together!
> 
> As usual, I'd love to gush about these idiots at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr! :D  
> And as always, all your comments and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated <3 they really help me keep going~


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bokuto and Kuroo are dorks in love.

Shoes squeaked across the gym floor, echoing against the walls, punctuated by the satisfying sound of balls slamming against the ground. The coach watched carefully while the players zipped about, calling out to one another. It was only a practice match, and against his own teammates no less, but Kuroo felt _alive_.

Their coach had been a little sceptical when Kuroo had asked to join the team – Kuroo hadn’t played in quite a long time, after all – but luckily for Kuroo, he hadn’t lost his game sense at all in the time he’d spent away from the game. It was almost like second nature to him. Even better was that he got to play with Bokuto – and even when they were on opposite sides of the net, it was still fun.

Bokuto called out for a toss, as loud and demanding as always, and ran to the right side of the setter. Kuroo responded quickly, as did one other player. They ran to the net, stopping directly across from Bokuto, and jumped. The toss came to Bokuto. He hit it, hard, but by that time Kuroo was already high enough to block. Kuroo reeled a little at the force of the ball hitting his hand, but grinned when it landed on the opposite court. If he was honest with himself, he probably wouldn’t have been able to block that spike if Bokuto had been going at full energy. But, they’d been playing for quite a while now, and Kuroo just so happened to have lucked out.

“Dammit!” Bokuto groaned, looking borderline pouty. There was a twinkle in his eye, though, that almost looked like pride. For Kuroo. As if he was thinking _yeah, that’s my boyfriend_. Kuroo’s grin widened, and he puffed out his chest.

“Better luck next time, Bo,” he teased.

“Bring it on!” Bokuto shot back.

“Alright, alright. Stop flirting, you two,” one of their teammates – Haizaki – cut in.

Bokuto huffed indignantly. “That’s not how we flirt.”

Haizaki sighed. “Then I really don’t want to know how you do.”

“You sure?” Kuroo asked. “It’s spectacularly clever, if I do say so myself.”

“I believe that from you, math nerd, but not so much from him,” Haizaki joked.

“Hey!”

“Enough chattering!” Coach interrupted. “You can have a water break when you finish the set.”

“Yes, coach!” They responded in unison.

It was Hinata’s turn to serve from Bokuto’s team – and having them both on the same team, _with_ Kageyama was _beyond_ unfair, really – and everyone braced themselves for the worst. The guys at the front covered the backs of their heads, just in case. The ball got over the net, just barely, and Haizaki managed to save it and send it to their setter. The toss came to Kuroo, and he slammed it down to the other side. Their libero just barely missed it. The ball hit the floor with a satisfying _smack_ , and Kuroo grinned at Bokuto again. Bokuto huffed, but he didn’t actually look upset.

The rest of practice was gruelling, it was exhausting, but it was _fun_. By the time it was over, Kuroo’s lungs felt like they were on fire, and there was a thick sheen of sweat just about everywhere across his skin, but a smile tugged at his lips and he knew that it was definitely worth it.

As they were wrapping up and starting to back away, Bokuto all but charged at him, wrapping his arms around Kuroo’s waist and lifting him off the ground. A surprised laugh-wheeze escaped Kuroo’s lips as Bokuto almost crushed his ribs and lungs.

“You were great today, Tetsu!” Bokuto exclaimed. “You’ve gotten so much better! Isn’t it fun?”

Bokuto’s nickname for Kuroo still sent his stomach flipping happily. He shot Bokuto a wide grin, cheeks heating. “Yeah, man. Why didn’t I let you talk me into this sooner?”

Bokuto dropped Kuroo to the ground, but kept one arm around him as they walked together to fetch the mops. “Because you’re dense and stubborn?”

“Oi!” He flicked Bokuto’s nose. “Who’s the dense one? I was half in love with you for ages before you said anything!”

“I thought my feelings were implied!” Bokuto retorted, but he was smiling.

“We’re both kinda dense, aren’t we?” Kuroo sighed.

“Yeah, but not anymore!”

“Yeah, not anymore,” he said, planting a kiss on Bokuto’s cheek.

He could practically _feel_ the glares of his teammates from behind them – except Hinata, of course, bless his innocent soul – and couldn’t help but cackle.

They both grabbed mops and began to clean the floors while the others tidied; picking up balls, packing away the net, and the like. In all, it didn’t take that long. There were quite a few members in the volleyball team at their university, so there were quite a few hands to help with the cleaning. When they were done, they put the mops away, grabbed their things, and headed for the changing rooms.

They were the last to change, since everyone had finished their cleaning jobs before them, and by the time they’d finished showering, everyone else was gone. Kuroo emerged from the shower just as Bokuto was pulling his jeans on. He paused for a moment to admire him, just because he could. His eyes raked over the dips and rises of Bokuto’s muscles, the way they tensed and relaxed as he moved.

“What? Liking what you see?” Bokuto teased raising an eyebrow.

Kuroo smiled, moving to get dressed as well. “Of course I am. How can I not?”

There was silence for a few moments, and Kuroo was just putting on his own pants when Bokuto sidled up behind him and slipped his arms around Kuroo’s waist. “Well, I’m liking what I see as well,” he said, pressing a kiss to the back of Kuroo’s neck. Kuroo shivered. “Very much.”

“Bo, not now. We’re in the locker room,” Kuroo said.

“Buut,” Bokuto sang. “We’re alone. Everyone’s gone home for the day.”

Kuroo sighed, turning around to face Bokuto. “You make a compelling argument.”

“I always do,” he grinned.

Kuroo shook his head, but kissed Bokuto anyway. It was chaste at first, but quickly escalated. Bokuto pushed Kuroo backwards, pressing him into the locker behind. Kuroo let out a surprised moan at the sudden force, hands tightening in Bokuto’s wet hair as he licked into his mouth. Bokuto’s fingers ran across Kuroo’s chest and back, exploring every inch of exposed skin and sending shivers down Kuroo’s spine. Kuroo nipped at Bokuto’s bottom lip as he pulled his head back by his hair roughly, exposing his neck. Just as he was about to press a kiss to Bokuto’s neck, he heard an indignant squawk from the other side of the locker room.

_Shit._

Bokuto jumped back, and Kuroo did his best to seem more… decent. Which was difficult, given that he didn’t have a shirt.

He looked up to see Hinata standing in the doorway covering his eyes, face flushed a beetroot red.

“Again? Really?” He all but squeaked.

“Sorry,” Kuroo said, shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Both he and Bokuto quickly pulled on shirts.

“You’re lucky that it’s me that keeps walking in on you guys!” He paused. “Can I look now?”

“Yeah,” Bokuto said.

“Good.” Hinata dropped his hands and made for one of the lockers, grabbing his cell phone from it. “I just… Forgot this. I’m going out with Kenma now. He won’t be going back to the dorm until after movies at Oikawa’s. Just so… You know.” Hinata inclined his head at the two of them, and then scampered away as quickly as he could. Once his footsteps receded, Kuroo looked over at Bokuto.

“Well, how about that? Kenma will be out all afternoon,” he said. “I guess this makes up for all those times I’ve been exiled from my own room.”

“How about that indeed?” Bokuto grinned. “Race you?”

Before Kuroo could respond, Bokuto had already grabbed his things and was out the door. Kuroo groaned. As if practice hadn’t been enough, Bokuto was goading him into _another_ race? “Come _on_ , Bo!” He called after him, but started running anyway. And if there was a big, stupid grin on his face – well, he couldn’t exactly help it.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo let out a soft gasp as his back hit his bed and Bokuto crawled on top of him. Before he could so much as regain his bearings, Bokuto’s lips were on his again, claiming. Kuroo gripped at Bokuto’s hair with one hand, and ran his fingers down his back with the other. He trailed his fingers down the already bare skin of Bokuto’s torso, only stopping on Bokuto’s ass. He squeezed hard as he ground their crotches together, earning a moan from Bokuto.

“Eager,” Bokuto said, pulling away from Kuroo’s lips.

“I’m not the one who insisted on making out in the locker room again,” Kuroo pointed out. “I’m also not the one who insisted on racing back here.”

Bokuto grinned, not looking the least bit guilty or abashed. “Fair point,” he said, and then crushed their lips together again, running his hands all over Kuroo and grinding against him.

“Fuck, Bo,” Kuroo breathed in between kisses. “I really want you inside me right now. Like, _really_.”

Bokuto’s grin turned sly as he slid off of Kuroo to rummage around in his dresser drawer for the lube and condoms. He already knew where they were by now.

After a few seconds, he returned, dumping the lube bottle and condom packet next to Kuroo before yanking his jeans and underwear off in one go. Kuroo was once again reminded of just how much strength there was in the muscles of Bokuto’s arms and… Oh boy.

Kuroo pulled at the waistband of Bokuto’s pants as well, and Bokuto let him shimmy them off. Once all their clothes were out of the way, Bokuto popped the cap of the lube bottle and dribbled some onto his fingers. Kuroo watched him through blown pupils, thoroughly enjoying the view of Bokuto above him.

Bokuto started with one finger, and Kuroo inhaled sharply, a thrill of anticipation running through him at the familiar sensation. When Kuroo was relaxed enough, Bokuto inserted another, pumping and curling and scissoring them as Bokuto’s other hand went to Kuroo’s cock. Kuroo let out a low moan as his cock began to harden. Bokuto kissed him when he added the third finger, hot and sloppy and desperate. Before Kuroo knew it, the fingers were gone altogether and he was whining at the loss.

He watched as Bokuto rolled on the condom, hurriedly slicking himself up with lube, eager to be inside Kuroo. The sight made Kuroo’s cock twitch. Bokuto crawled back over Kuroo, lining himself up.

“You ready, Tetsu?” He asked.

Kuroo nodded. “Yeah. Come on, come on. Just get inside me already.”

Bokuto gladly obliged. He slowly pushed inside Kuroo. Kuroo gripped Bokuto’s biceps hard, digging his nails in as he filled him up.

“You good?” Bokuto asked when he was all the way in.

Kuroo let out a long sigh. “Yeah. You can move.” Bokuto nodded and did just that. He pulled most of the way out, before thrusting back in, pumping Kuroo’s cock with his hand at the same time. His pace was torturously slow, almost teasing. Kuroo looked up at Bokuto. The glint in his eye – yep, he was teasing him. “Come on, Bokuto. Really _move_.”

An innocent expression crossed Bokuto’s face. “Hmm? Move how?”

“You… Are the worst.”

“That’s not what you said last time,” he grinned. “So, move how?”

Kuroo leaned up, planting a firm, rough kiss on Bokuto’s mouth, biting at his bottom lip as he pulled away. “I want you to fuck me,” he whispered into Bokuto’s ear. “As hard as you possibly can. Into the mattress. I don’t want to be able to _walk_ when you’re done with me.”

Bokuto blinked, looking a little surprised that Kuroo had actually played along. Then, he grinned again. “Oh. I can do that.”

And he really did. Without another second’s hesitation, he hooked his arms under Kuroo’s legs, lifting them over his shoulders and lifting Kuroo’s hips off the mattress. Kuroo let out a surprised gasp at the suddenness of it, but his gasp quickly turned into a loud moan as Bokuto began to thrust, hard and fast.

“Fuck, Bo- _Yes_ ,” he moaned.

“Tetsu…” Bokuto sighed, his voice tight. “Tetsurou.” Kuroo shivered, moaning loudly again, at the sound of his name. “Call me… Call me Koutarou.”

“Wha-?” Kuroo said intelligibly, one of his own moans cutting himself off.

“Say it. Please.”

“Koutarou.” Bokuto’s cock twitched inside him, and his pace picked up. “Koutarou.”

Bokuto moaned. “Fuck.”

“Kou-” He tried again, but was, again, cut off by his own moan when Bokuto hit his prostate.

He was close, he knew, and so was Bokuto. Another moan escaped his lips, but it felt almost far off. All he could focus on was the feeling of Bokuto thrusting inside him, even harder than before. Soon, he was coming with a yell, fingernails scraping across Bokuto’s shoulders and back. Bokuto wasn’t far behind. He thrusted into Kuroo a few more times, pace erratic, before coming as well.

Bokuto collapsed on top of Kuroo, and Kuroo winced as his legs, still hooked over Bokuto’s shoulders, were pushed back further than they by all rights should have been able to go.

“That hurts,” Kuroo said. “At least get off my legs first.”

“Oh, sorry,” Bokuto sighed, voice sleepy. He rolled off of Kuroo, and promptly fell asleep on the pillow next to him. Kuroo rolled his eyes. So he was supposed to clean them by himself now? No way. He turned towards Bokuto, taking one of his hands in his, and went to sleep next to him. They could worry about the mess later.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo and Bokuto entered Oikawa’s apartment holding hands. The door was open, so they let themselves in and made their way to the living room.

Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Daichi were all in the living room when they got there. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were next to each other on the end of the couch, and Daichi was on the arm chair. They all looked up at him and Bokuto as they entered.

Oikawa sniffed. “Ugh. You two smell like _happiness_. So mushy,” he said, sticking his tongue out.

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Like you’re one to talk. Have you _seen_ how you bat your eyes at Iwaizumi? Gross,” he retorted. “Also, it’s not happiness. It’s sex.”

“Ew!” Oikawa exclaimed, wrinkling his nose. “Didn’t you two at least shower?”

“We did,” Bokuto said. “But then we had sex in the shower.”

“Okay, stop. Stop. Please,” Oikawa groaned. “I should have never gotten you two together.”

“You didn’t,” Iwaizumi said.

“Rude! I did, too! I organized that intervention for their shitty communication!”

Daichi laughed. “Yeah, and we all know how _that_ turned out,” he said.

The rest of them laughed, and Oikawa sank back into the couch, sulking. Bokuto sat at the other end of the couch, and Kuroo settled onto a cushion on the floor, leaning back between Bokuto’s legs. It left enough room for Kenma and Hinata to sit between them and Oikawa, and Sugawara could sit with Daichi on the armchair.

Sugawara arrived shortly after them, settling onto Daichi’s lap, and Kenma and Hinata arrived not too long after him. They spent a good half an hour arguing what movie to watch. Kuroo and Bokuto both tried to push for Sharknado again, but got outvoted. They ended up with some standard action flick, but it was okay. He didn’t mind.

As long as he could sit there with Bokuto, and hold his hand, just because, he found that he didn’t really mind about anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo I had to change the rating hahah, oops... I got too filthy.
> 
> I can't believe it's over! Boy, has this been an experience for me! I originally intended for this fic to be about 25k at most, but wow, it got really out of hand lmao. I'm glad it did though! It was really fun to write. I hope you guys enjoyed this experience as much as I did!
> 
> All of your comments and encouragement have been so greatly appreciated and have really helped keep me going with this fic <3 thank you, everyone!


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